Pet of the Peacock Prince
By Princess Thil Galel
I DO NOT OWN
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Hey guys, sorry this took so long. Frist V-day, then my mother's B-day, and now I'm sick. But hey, I'm alive, so it's a good. I'm so glad to see everyone enjoy themselves while reading. I'd like to aske a special favor from my reviewers. If you could, and don't mind, would you tell me in detail-doesn't have to be a huge paragraph or anything-what part you really liked? With this chapter especially, it was a pain to finish.
Now to thank you, all my lovely reads/reviewers: jozs001, Autobot NightFury, snapeissexy, and eld mcm. You guys truly brighten up my day!
Snow trek of frozen tears
Betrayal.
Shen would never be able to forget that look in her eyes. The moment she'd realized what he'd done, her face had turned completely blank. But her eyes...
The leucistic prince sat beside his parents on the sedan, his green cloak wrapped around him with the hood up. His father glanced past his mother, but when Shen tugged his hood down to the point it hid his eyes the king said nothing. The prince hadn't spoken since they had left the city, brooding in silence.
The wolves bustled about them. Scouting the surrounding area in teams, and swapping out places on the riding cart every hour or so. Tai Lung leaped through the trees effortlessly overhead, his golden eyes seeking out any hidden dangers that the land might hold. Lang kept everything running smoothly. Timing the shift changes evenly between his pack, and between the gorillas carrying the royals' sedan. Ah-Mah rode with the crates in the cart behind the peacocks, a ball of yarn sitting in her lap as she knitted.
The Soothsayer glanced up from the scarf that was slowly taking form between her hooves to her prince. He was watching the human walking ahead of them beside the Boss Wolf. She couldn't see his face with his back turned to her, but she knew he was frowning profusely. He slipped off his hood as he gazed fixedly at her back, looking all the world like he wanted nothing more than to jump up and beg her forgiveness and understanding. But on what, she hadn't the foggiest idea.
Although, she didn't need to look into her bowl to find answers. She had other ways of learning the truth. "Shen!" she called out. He turned to look back at her, his brow raised questioningly. She beckoned to him, and gestured to her side. The prince got the message. He jumped off the sedan and walked back to the cart, hopping onto it as it continued moving. The goat reached up and tugged his hood up over his head. "Keep your hood up, Darling, you're sick enough as it is." she scolded gently and picked up her knitting once more. "So, do you want to talk about it? You know I'm always here for you, and my ears are wide open if you choose to use them."
"Talk about what?" he asked nonchalantly, trying desparately to remain aloof.
The goat gave the peacock a stern look. "Don't play dumb with me, youngling." she said "I've known you since the day you were hatched, so don't try to pull the wool over my eyes." She finished tying the final tassel on the scarf, with a smirk she pulled his hood down and began wrapping it around his elegant neck. "Speaking of wool, keep this on too, dear." The scarf went around a half dozen times before she loosely tied the ends at the base of his neck and replaced his hood. "Now," she said, taking something else out of her bag "Talk to Nanna, Darling."
The white prince sighed, his breath turning to steam around his beak. His regal gaze fell once again on the human's back. "I've done something." he murmured "Something I truly wish I hadn't had to do."
Ah-Mah threaded a needle with an expertly steady hoof. "I see." she said "Go on."
Shen swallowed, his throat felt dry. "My father...had a collar made for Amalthea." he stated slowly "And he...had me put it on her." With a groan, he buried his face in his wings. "Gods, that look she gave me will haunt me. She'll never forgive me for this, Nanna."
"Oh, I don't know about that, Shen." said the Soothsayer. Her hoof guided the black thread and needle as if it were second nature. "It would seem that you hadn't done so willingly, and you are regretful for the action. I'm sure she's more embarrassed by having to wear it than she is angry with you. Just give her some space and she'll come around."
The peacock huffed softly "I wish I could feel as certain about this as you do." he mumbled. He glanced over at the goat's lap, and frowned in confusion. "Just what are you making?" he asked, studying the items sitting on the goat's knees.
Smiling, she held up two pink things made of yarn "Mittens." she answered cheerfully "Amalthea will need something to keep her fingers warm while she's playing in the snow. And look-" she turned the mittens over to reveal pawprints embroidered on the palms in black "I though I'd get clever and make wolf paws out of them."
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
The day past by uneventfully. When the sun began to head for the horizon, Lang called for a halt. With the word given, the wolves set about making the campsite. Removing debris, pitching tents, and lighting fires. Shen jumped down from the cart, his scarlet eyes seeking out the human hidden amongst the crowd of wolves.
She was helping to bring water up from the stream a short ways away. The blue ruqun she wore did little to hinder her. Tai Lung accompanied her, and he seemed to be offering to take her load. The prince couldn't help a satisfied smirk when she turned him down.
Amalthea sat the buckets down by one of the cooking fires. Tai Lung set his own buckets down beside her's. The cat seemed to be acting rather agitated, his ears flat and his tail lashing about. "So how long are you going to let this go on?" he demanded "You've barely spoken a word since that glorified chicken put that thing around your neck."
"Don't talk about Shen that way." she said simply "Not only is it disrespectful to say such things about your leaders, but it's just plain rudeness on your part." She tightened the pink sash around her waist, the pearl knife hidden under her purple waist skirt felt like a comforting weight against her hip. She'd found herself absentmindedly tracing over the wolves on it's handle through the silk several times.
The feline snorted "I can't believe you're still defending him. He put a collar on you, for the gods' sakes." he retorted, hooking the leather with his finger to emphasize his point. Amalthea knocked his hand aside and adjusted her collar. "He's turned you into his little pet-next thing you know he'll have you jumping through hoops!"
She set a hand on her hip as she gave him a pointed look. "In case you didn't notice, Tai," she said curtly "I am Shen's pet. And if he wants me to jump hoops, who am I to argue? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to help Lang finish setting things up." The woman turned her back on the cat's stunned expression and headed off to find the Wolf Boss.
Lang had just finished pitching Shen's tent when Amalthea found him. He smiled softly at her, but she didn't return it. "Hey Thea, how you holdin' out?" he asked. Her only response was a shrug of her shoulders. "Not too tired for a walk, right?" he inquired.
She nodded.
He dusted the snow off his hands and picked up his hammer from where he'd set it against a tree. "Great," he said, and nodded in the direction they'd be heading "Let's get going."
Lang left Aka in charge, giving the half-wolf the excuse that he was going on a patrol. The Kai-ken knew better, but said nothing.
The Wolf Boss and the human headed off through the surrounding trees. The silence between them made Lang fight hard against an annoying twitch developing under his fur. Amalthea had never been this quiet around him, ever. Her beautiful aquamarine eyes even seemed slightly clouded, and had a distant look about them.
As they passed close to a tree, Lang raked his claws along the bark, leaving behind long marks deep in the wood. He inspected his claws briefly before continuing on their walk. "You know, Shen didn't mean to upset you." he said finally "And he's clearly not happy right now. Don't be too hard on him, Thea."
"I'm not upset with Shen." she said simply.
"Then whats got you so tight-lipped?"
She didn't answer at first. Instead she chewed her lip, trying to find the right words to explain things. Before they had left Oogway had once again encouraged her to tell them her dark secret, but the distance between them and the palace didn't make things any easier. "I'm not upset with Shen." she repeated "I'm upset with myself."
Lang paused in midstep "Why?" he asked, utterly bewildered.
Amalthea sighed shakily, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. "Its...for several reasons, actually." she replied "But mostly because I forgot myself."
The wolf's brow furrowed as he scratched another tree. "Forgot yourself?" he repeated, plucking a piece of bark from under his claw "I don't get it. How did you forget yourself?"
Her fingers brushed the collar encircling her neck. The gold chain was cold and clicked against her nails, while the ruby felt slightly warm where it rested against her skin. "I forgot that I'm just his pet." she admitted, her vision blurred from tears that suddenly filled her eyes. "I let myself get too close to him-I started thinking of myself as his friend. But no matter what he says that'll never be the case."
He ripped his claws down a third tree's side, this time the marks came out deeper than he intended. "What?" he asked in surprise, digging a splinter out of his finger "What on earth are you talking about? You might be his pet, but you're still his friend. Same as me."
"No, not the same-not even close." she countered "He had nobody to call friend until you came into his life, Brother. You're the special exception, because you grew up together he sees you like a brother. But I'm a mythical nobody from a place that-as far as the rest of the world is concerned-doesn't exisit. We'll never be anything...but master and pet."
The wolf pulled her into his arms as she continued to fight off the tears. She buried her face into his neck, digging her fingers into his thick fur, and sniffled softly. Lang gently fisted a hand in her hair, feeling the silky touch of her feathers on his fingertips as he nuzzled her. "Hey," he cooed "It's gonna be okay, Thea. I'm here, not matter what, I'll be here."
"I just feel like such an idiot!" she mumbled in his fur "I knew, from the very beginning I knew I shouldn't let myself get attached to anybody-least of all him!" She gave a brief, half-hearted laugh "Gods, I was so stupid Lang." The wolf whined gently and rubbed his cheek against her's, her tears soaking through his fur. But little did he care.
When she began to wipe her cheeks, he brushed the tears away with his knuckles. "Feel better now that you've got that off your shoulders?" he asked teasingly.
Amalthea nodded with one last sniffle. "Yeah, I'm fine now." she said. A grin suddenly spread across the wolf's face, and he abruptly licked the tip of her cold nose. She let out a surprised squeal and covered her nose as he moved to do it a second time. "Lang! Don't do that!" she squeaked through the giggling fit, and pushed the wolf away.
"Come on," he chortled "We should finish walking the camp boundary before it gets dark." He raked his claws across another tree and moved onto the next one several feet away.
The human cocked her head as she finished wiping wolf slobber off her nose. "What exactly are you doing?" she asked.
"Scent and visual marking." he said and scratched another trunk. He glanced over his shoulder at her "Doesn't your dad do stuff like this?"
She shook her head "Not that I've ever seen." she replied "But then again, he only takes Teshin out with him. So even if he did, I wouldn't know." He hummed in response and scarred more tree bark.
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
Amalthea lay curled in warmth. Blinking her eyes open, the human yawned silently and looked around. A smile came to her lips. A wolf's head lay on her shoulder, another one's torso was draped over her hip, and a third had his arms wrapped around her calves. Sleeping in the wolves tent was like being back at home, only with added bodies in the pile. She absentmindedly scratched behind the ear of the wolf's head laying on her shoulder, and choked back a laugh when he cuddled closer.
She looked about, careful not to disturb her sleeping companions, and searched for Lang amongst the tangle of furry bodies. But he was nowhere to be found. Amalthea disentangled herself from the mass of furry bodies, the wolves awoke briefly, but quickly moved closer to each other and fell back asleep. Shaking with silent laughter, Amalthea picked up the clothes she'd layed out last night and stepped behind the changing screen.
As she stepped out of the tent in a blue gi trimmed in black with red and orange flames on the back and cuffs, black kus, and black shoes she glanced around the campsite. Lang was crouched on top of a large boulder just outside of the ring of tents. He sat facing into the wind, his muzzle raised slightly as he inhaled deeply. When she walked up behind him, his only acknowledgement to her arrival was a flick of his ear in her direction. She tucked the pearl knife into her sash as she waited for him to speak.
A low growl arose in his throat. "I don't like this." he murmured, his perked ears swiveling about, trying to catch any and every sound. His scarlet eyes slowly scanned over the snow covered landscape, taking in each stick and stone scattered in the white expanse.
"What is it?" she asked, her hand falling to the handle of the knife "Did you spot something? Hear someone?"
He shook his head slowly "No," he growled softly "But I sense it. Something's up, and I don't like it." The Boss Wolf slid off the rock, his feet sinking in the snow. "I don't want you wandering off alone. Stay with someone at all times-even if its that cat-but somebody!" he said, shaking his finger at her to emphasize his stern point "I mean it, don't make me tie you to the sedan."
Amalthea rolled her eyes. "If you insist, Okaa-san." she murmured.
"Oh what?" he asked, scratching behind his ear in confusion. "What does that mean?"
The human chuckled "It's pronounced 'Okaa-san', dingbat." she chortled "It means 'mother', and you're acting like mine." The wolf's ears flattened as he pursed his lips, and glared at her with his arms crossed. She smiled sweetly at him "If it makes you feel better, since I've hurt your feelings, I'll go walk with Tai."
Lang growled softly "I'd much prefer if it wasn't him."
She copied his pose "What is it with you and Shen, do both of you have something against the poor guy?"
"I ain't got anything against him personally-beside his bad personality, rude behavior, and his 'mightier-than-thou' attitude." he said "I just really don't like cats, and I really don't trust him either."
Amalthea huffed "Honestly, I don't see it. But if it makes you any happier, I'll hang around Aka." she replied. But Lang only gave her a hard look. "What?"
"Why don't you walk by the sedan and talk to Shen?" he suggested "Since you're not upset with him, do us all a favor, and at least say something to the peacock. He's been sulking ever since we left and it's really starting to get to me. He's my friend, I don't seeing him unhappy."
At that she couldn't help but smile. "You know, you're a good friend, Lang." she said.
When the royal party set off once more, Amalthea walked close to the sedan, and in turn, close to Shen. She could feel the leucistic peacock's scarlet gaze upon her constantly, the weight of his stare heavy on her back. But she didn't dare say anything to him, not with his father sitting nearby. The king still glared fiercely at her whenever she was near. It was safe to say that the peacock king held her in high disapproval, and if his regal etiquette would have allowed it, Amalthea was certain he'd spit on the very ground she walked on.
But Shen appeared to be completely oblivious to that meager detail. "So how are you holding out, my dear?" asked the prince.
Amalthea glanced past him to the king, and noticed the death stare he was giving her. "I'm perfectly well," she replied "I am, after all, under your protection, my prince."
The formality in her response both puzzled and stung the leucistic peacock. She must have been even angrier than he'd first thought. His crest fell slightly under his hood. "Are you certain your...uh, collar isn't bothering your scar?" he asked.
"Very certain, my lord."
Shen's expression fell. Azure rolled his eyes "Oh, leave your pet alone, Shen." he said "It said it's fine. Just let it walk, it'll wear itself out eventually." The prince cast his father a pointed look, but said nothing. Instead he casually jumped off the sedan and fell into step with the human. He rested a wing on her shoulder and forced her to slow down.
When they were out of hearing range from his parents, Shen turned to her. "Amalthea, please please, don't be upset." he pleaded "Believe me when I say that I didn't want to put that thing on you. But my father insisted-if I hadn't, he would have left you behind. And I-"
"Shen!" cut in the human "Calm down, you're going to give yourself a fever if you keep this up." The look absolute shock on his face caused her to giggle. "I swear, I'm not mad."
"Then why have you been ignoring me?" he demanded.
"I haven't been ignoring you." she said, then added under her breath "I've been avoiding your father."
He raised an eyebrow "Pardon?" he asked "What would you want to avoid him for? I mean, I know he's not exactly fond of you but still."
"But nothing! He's been glaring holes through the back of my head all morning." she said "I don't want to offend anyone, Shen, but he makes me very uncomfortable."
"Then let's not talk about him." said the peacock "Let's talk about something else-anything else."
The two slowly drifted to the back of the group, talking and laughing together. Soon they dropped back out of sight, neither of them noticing the royal caravan disappearing around the bend.
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
Tai Lung perched himself on top of a high tree branch as he watched the caravan pass by underneath him. But his golden gaze wasn't for the king and queen, or the beautiful landscape. Instead it was for the young woman who traveled amongst the wolves-or, so he thought. As he watched everyone pass by, he quickly realized that she was nowhere to be seen.
With a growl, the feline leaped to the ground and stalked up to the Boss Wolf. "Hey, dog." he called "Have you seen Amalthea? She seems to have disappeared."
Lang's ears folded back when the cat approached. "The name's Lang, furball." he snapped "And for your information, she's with Lord Shen."
The snow leopard snarled in annoyance. "And where, pray tell, is your precious prince?" he spat angrily "I've been up and down this caravan and haven't seen either of them."
The wolf's ears perked. He glanced around, hoping to spot Shen's green hood and the red spots of his train or Amalthea's pink hair. But he saw neither. Icy claws dug into his spine. Where were they? The feeling of unease he'd had since earlier that morning was growing into a sense of dread. "Aka!" he snapped "Where's Lord Shen?"
The striped half wolf glanced around. "He was here a minute ago, Sir." he replied "I just seen him-he was talking with Sister Amalthea."
"They must have fallen behind." murmured Lang. He turned to Tai Lung "Come on, let's go find them. I've got a bad feeling about this."
The cat snorted as he followed the wolf. "Are you sure it's not just your fleas?" he retorted.
Meanwhile, Shen wiped the tears from his eyes and clutched at his aching side as he laughed. "Oh gods! You got to be joking." he chortled "Y-you mean to tell me that your brother actually got stuck like that?"
"Yep, he was hanging upside-down by his toes." said Amalthea shaking her head "Teshin couldn't walk for days after that."
Shen took a deep breath to calm himself. "Okay, my turn." he said "Uh, let me think. The most embarrassing thing I've ever seen? Um, that would have to be that time at the spring costume festival where I managed to get a pair of bunny ears onto Master Rhino. He looked completely ridiculous! Back then I thought he never even noticed I'd slipped them on his head when I was riding on his shoulders, but I later learned that he was just humoring me." He chuckled at the memory, thinking about how everyone had snickered and stared at the rhinoceros as he carried the giggling seven-year-old peacock on his massive shoulders down the crowded streets.
Amalthea couldn't keep a straight face at the thought of Master Thundring Rhino carrying a little Shen around-much less wearing bunny ears while doing it. "I can't believe he-" Shen suddenly grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her in front of him. She heard a wet thud and he grunted in pain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of silver and heard the musical shing of one of the prince's throwing knives flying through the air.
A loud, earsplitting screech rang through the air. Something slammed into them, throwing Amalthea in one direction, and Shen in the other. Amalthea heard Shen give a choking gasp. She looked up and felt fear sink it's icy claws into her heart. A snowy owl had his talons wrapped around the prince's throat, pinning his slender neck to the frozen earth.
She struggled to her feet and ran to aid the peacock, but she didn't get far. A heavily muscled tail wrapped around her neck from behind, and snatched her backwards off her feet. She was slammed onto the ground, the impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and she lay coughing as a huge shadow loomed over her.
"Well, well, well." hissed a voice "What do we have here?"
"Think that's the devil's pet everybody's been talkin' 'bout?" boomed a second voice, this one much deeper and brawnier than the first.
Something grabbed the back of her gi and hauled her off the ground. A claw toyed with the chain on her collar. "Hey, check this out." hissed the first voice, she finally realized what was holding her when it twisted her around. She came face to face with a stone-grey komodo dragon. His long, slime-covered tongue flicked out a mere inch from her face. "It's wearing some seriously high quality metal around it's neck. The chain alone would fetch a fortune-not to mention that gemstone dangling from it's throat."
A long, sharp, black claw turned her face. It belonged to a sun bear. The black bear gave her a scrutinizing look. "Kinda pretty lookin'," he commented, thumping a massive paw on his white chest he added "I say we keep it."
The komodo nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think you're on to something there." he agreed "I definitely wouldn't get tired of seeing that face."
"Enough with the gods foresaken pet!" snapped the owl, his talons tightening around Shen's throat "Let's just take care this demon and get out of here. The wolves can't be too far away from their precious master."
"You've got that right!"
Seemingly out of nowhere, Lang slammed into the owl with all the raging strength of a mountain river. They crashed into the snow as a tangled mass of shrieking, snarling, snapping bodies. Feathers and fur flying in all directions. The sun bear roared as he too, leaped into the fray.
A scaly hand covered Amalthea's mouth, an arm wrapped around her waist and started dragging her backwards. Her screams were muffled and it seemed that they would go unanswered. That was, of course, until a loud, angry snarl sounded from above. From out of the canopy, Tai Lung dropped down like a vengeful forest spirit. The snow leopard swiped out at her attacker, his sharp claws raking across the reptile's face. The komodo released his hold on the human's jaw as he grasped at the blood trails, but he held firmly onto her-refusing to release his captive. He used her like a shield, if Tai Lung tried to strike, the reptile would force her between them, completely blocking the feline's attempts to attack.
But this also meant that the dragon was paying full attention to the cat-not what she was doing. Amalthea managed to grasp hold of the black handle of the knife hidden in her sash. Amongst the wild tossing and thrashing, she freed the pearl blade from it's sheath and stabbed her captor in the hip. He screeched in pain. It was the opening Tai Lung had been waiting for. With a fierce growl, he grabbed Amalthea's sleeve and snatched her away from the dragon. She fell to the ground as the cat leaped onto the reptile.
Although the snow leopard was easily handling his single opponent, Lang was struggling to fend off both the owl and the bear. He'd broken one of the snowy's wings by sinking his teeth into it and twisting his head at just the right angle before the sun bear had joined in the brawl. Now, he grappled with the mountain of muscle on one hand and the blood lusting bird on the other. His claws and hammer became useless when they collectively pinned his arms. His fangs unusable when they slammed him face-down in the snow.
Amalthea flipped the knife in her hand, catching it by the very end of the handle. Her aquamarine eyes locked onto the white of the sun bear's chest. With a flick of the wrist, the knife soared through the air with a metallic whistle-one that was cut short by a hollow thud and a ragged choke. When the bear collapsed, Lang freed his arm and slammed his hammer into the owl's face. The impact shattered the bird's beak like a hundred-year-old tea cup, and snapped his neck. She ran to the wolf and pulled him to his feet, then retrieved her knife from the bear's reddened breast. Lang gave her a lop-sided smirk. "You mess with the wolf..." he began.
"You get the fangs." she finished.
They quickly went to the fallen prince. He lay stunned on the cold snow, a small puddle of blood gathered beside his hip. Lang carefully lifted his head "Shen, you okay?" he asked "Where are you hurt?"
"S-Side." he choked out, then dissolved into a coughing fit.
The wolf moved the folds of Shen's cloak aside. A long, thick needle was protruding from his waist. Lang delicately touched it, but made no motion to remove it. "What in the king's name is this?" he puzzled aloud "I've never seen a needle used as a weapon-either they were short of arms, or intelligence."
"Perhaps neither." Amalthea commented "It's a senbon needle-a tool designed to strike nerve points. Much like the needles used in acupuncture. It only takes one to kill someone."
Taking that fact into mind, Lang carefully avoided jolting the needle as he gathered the dazed peacock up in his arms. "Come on, his injuries aren't bad but we should let the Soothsayer take that thing out." he said. Tilting his head back, the wolf let out a beautiful, haunting, eery howl. It was swiftly met by a reply. "They're waiting for us, let's hurry."
"What about Tai Lung?" she asked.
As if summoned by his name, the cat appeared between the trees-dragging the komodo behind him. "I'm perfectly fine, thanks for asking." he quipped and shoved the dragon ahead of him "But this poor fellow is just lucky to be alive."
Lang rolled his eyes. "Bring him with us." he ordered, and growled menacingly "He's got a lot to answer for."
