The Final chapter of Act I. Enjoy it
Kung Fu Panda belongs to DreamWorks.
This part of the world, the idea and these characters belong to me.
Birth of a Shadow
Chapter VIII: Avengers
My sis awoke at the morning.
To explain it to her was my duty. Like it was my duty to inform her of mum's last words to her. I don't need to mention that she cried as well.
She had some cuts on her body, but most of them seemed to have been deflected from her. Probably mum. Only one big scar remained: There where the mole was. Now there was a big and ugly scar.
I on the other hand had lost my despair from the last night. A different feeling was ruling me back then: Hatred. And Wrath.
I went outside, where everyone was waiting: dad leaning at the entrance to the cave, Shi Li looking at the lake not far away from here and Eric smoking a pipe on a rock.
I sat down on another smaller rock.
"What are you planning to do, Kuba?" my dad asked.
I had thought about this long last night.
Although I promised mum something, I couldn't fulfill it, if something didn't happen before…
"I will revenge mum. I will take their lives for hers." the wrath and hatred mixed into my voice back then.
My dad hesitated.
"No…you will not."
This irritated me. I looked up.
"What? Do you don't want to…", then I saw my dad's face. He cried. It was the first and only time, where I saw like he cried. I kept the words I wanted to say for me.
"I know…how you are feeling, son. I know very well. But still…you can't become an avenger."
"But….but…we can't let them get away with this! For killing…." further I didn't come.
My dad left the stone wall and walked in the middle.
"They don't get away! But we are not avengers." he turned around, "Revenge destroys you only. Revenge is a poison, which eats you alive till nothing remains than a lifeless corpse….No…you can't become an avenger."
I wasn't the only one, who thought that dad described this like from first hand.
We heard a snort and looked to the culprit: Eric.
"So you don't want to be an avenger? What do you want to be then?"
Dad looked at him.
"Why is this interesting you? We still don't know why you helped us."
Again a snort.
"I helped you, because I was impressed by your determination. All was lost, but you still wanted to fight. Like a real warrior."
"So a real warrior attacks helpless mothers and their daughters?" dad replied sharp.
I think that angered Eric.
"I haven't done this! I don't kill defenseless people or attack them either!"
"But you haven't done anything to stop them."
Eric glared at him.
"I haven't…But I rescued you. In this way you could at least rescue your daughter. Otherwise all of you would be dead."
I think dad wanted to charge him, but Shi Li went in between.
"Quarreling now, doesn't bring us further. We need to think, what we can do."
Both of them glared at each other, while they separated again.
"I said we can't be avengers!"
"So what can we be then?" I asked.
"…Heroes…" dad replied after a little hesitation.
"Heroes?!" Eric laughed.
"Yes, heroes. Or at least something like this. People, who fix problems." he made a break, "This jerk of a Prince had attacked us not because you ruined his image, but because felines have ruined his image. He wanted to kill us, because we were felines."
That made sense. The words of him and the lead-wolf were still in my mind.
"You don't know even the whole story." Eric intervened.
We looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Shi Li asked.
"I heard from the ones, who were present back then, that the King of the Western Lands had killed all of his feline citizens in his capital in one night. There were hundreds of them. And his rampage went further: For days no feline in his kingdom was save. He chased them all."
"And you were working for this guy?" I asked disbelieving.
"I didn't believe it…till last night. How could someone believe such a story? So cruel and brutal. Even we Norseman are gentler. But it seems that not only he did it for real, but his eldest son seems to have inherited it."
Dad took a step to him.
"And have you heard why this happened?"
"No…no one knows. When no one even believes this story in the first place…"
We kept silent after this.
"We need to stop him." dad declared.
We waited for further words.
"This guy and his son are ready to kill every feline, which they encounter only because they are felines. So what will happen, when these two will reign even over these lands? And to what they are able to do in addition? We can't allow that these guys rule here. We need to stop them."
"Yeah, I see what you mean. But this will be neither easy nor fast." Eric stated.
"I never said that. And I didn't talk to you." he looked at me, "We are still no avengers, even when it sounds like we would only look for a reason to act. If we act then only with a cool head and for protecting the felines, who live or will live once. In a way we are heroes, who want to bring down a monster, before he can do more cruel things. Do you understand this?"
I understood and nodded. Dad seemed to be relieved.
"I understand." a voice from the cave declared. Sis had stood up and was leaning against the wall and listening to our words. Tears were still leaving her eyes.
Dad looked at her and nodded also.
"You should never forget this. A hero doesn't fight for glory or hatred. Nor for money or satisfaction. He fights for the right thing. Never forget this."
We nodded both.
Dad then looked at Shi Li.
"I know that we offered you help once. And I know that I am not allowed to ask you this, but do you…"
"I will." Shi Li replied before dad had finished, "Without hesitation."
But I think there was going something different through his mind back then as well.
Then dad looked at Eric.
"I still don't trust you. But I know, you are a mighty warrior and we can't be choosy with our allies. With an additional sword we would have a better chance to beat these guys. So will you join us?"
Eric smoked further first.
Then he clicked his tongue.
And then he looked at us.
"First of all: Axe. And Second: I am a Norseman. The only real warrior here. How could you even think to have a chance without me?", then he grinned.
And so it was decided: We would become heroes. The problem-fixers. The monster-killers. The Feline-Rescuers. The fighters for the right thing. But no avengers. It sounded easy, but it wasn't that I can say for sure.
And this was nothing different then the beginning of the story.
End of Act I
To be continued in Act II
