My Own Destiny

By corset-rebellion-follower

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

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Chapter 14- Angel's Fate

I was exhausted. I had only reached the Thread of Hope, and it had been three days. I stopped there for a while and rested, but had to continue on without food or water because there was none around. My stomach was grumbling, and I would have killed for a bowl of Po's noodles. I felt like I was going to collapse, but I knew I had to keep going. Where would I stop, anyway? I was on a huge collection of rope bridges. I had to wait until I got to the other side to sleep.

By then it had been four days of non-stop walking. So I just curled up at the entrance to the rest of China, and slept. I have no idea how many days I was asleep, but it didn't feel like enough. But I kept going. Thankfully for me, I found a plum tree that still had a few ripe plums on it, so I got to eat something.

And my stomach was very grateful that it didn't have to be completely empty anymore. I sat up in the tree for quite a while, nursing my last plum and thinking. It was mostly about Mom.

How she lasted while running away, I'll never know. She never told anyone about that except my dad, so I never could even try to squeeze it out of anyone. I slept some in the tree, and then reluctantly jumped down from my branch and to the ground, continuing on my journey.

To tell you the truth, the rest of China was pretty boring. It was just trees and rocks and dirt, just like in the Valley, only with no Jade Palace. I wished for my bed, and for my iPod. I wished for Bryan not to hate me anymore. He really is my best friend.

And all this extra time and nothing to do gave me a lot of time to feel bad about all the terrible things I've done. My feet were on fire, and my arms felt like lead. This was much worse than any training my dad could dish out. When I finally came to water, I had counted at least six, maybe seven days running only on the plums I had eaten at the tree. I felt so empty and sick; I thought I was going to die as I fell on my knees next to the tiny stream.

The water was cool and sweet, and felt so good running down my coarse throat. I drank as much as possible, then after looking around for food and only finding some berries that didn't look very edible, I pressed on.

Why is it that I could only find food and no water, or water and no food? I'm cursed. That's my brilliant scientific answer for that question. But walking in steps and counting them was very meditative, so I could sort of relax. Almost.

Look, if anyone's considering running away, don't do it. Really, it's not safe and it's not fun, and it doesn't help you forget your problems. But it is really dangerous. On Day 16, I think, I tripped on a wayward branch. This is one of the bad things about being short; you can never avoid that kind of thing if you're not paying attention. I think I either twisted or broke my ankle that day.

It HURT.

I couldn't move it at all and there was no food or water around, so I was panicking then and thinking, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! How could I do this, I'm so stupid! Mom and Dad have probably disowned me by now. Mom… she's going to hate me for running away. And I let my anger blow up in her face even though she told me to kick that habit. I wonder if they miss me at all. I wonder if Mom is crying and Dad is just sort of looking off into the distance, as if I'll come over the horizon to them any second.

This was really stupid to think then. Of course my parents missed me. They had to miss me. I was their daughter, they were supposed to care… weren't they? I mean, I wasn't exactly the perfect child. I broke some rules, and disobeyed a little. Okay, fine, I disobeyed a lot and basically threw the rule book out the window. But my parents still loved me… right?

But whether they did or not, I was still stuck on the forest floor with no food or water and no other means of survival. And my ankle looked pretty terrible, too. It was swelling and red and the branch had cut through the skin. And now the cut was oozing pus. Don't gag, you didn't actually have to live through it. It was going to get infected.

Luckily for me, I didn't get to feel that happen. However, not so luckily, that was because I passed out. About seventeen days in the wilderness, and only one or two with food and water? I'm surprised I made it that far. I just felt sort of tired, like I needed a nap. So I laid my head down and closed my eyes, and before I knew it I was unconscious.

Things look pretty terrible, right? Well, they get a little better. When I started to come to, I no longer felt the hard dirt and soft moss of the forest. It was soft, though. A very, very soft bed. You probably wouldn't have thought it was soft, it was just a normal straw-stuffed bed, but when you've been traveling alone for over two weeks and have had to choose between a tree branch and the ground, a straw-stuffed bed is like heaven on earth. Under my head was a pillow that was filled with feathers. I sat up as best I could and rubbed my eyes.

I was in a tiny room. I saw my clothes sitting, neatly folded, in a pile on a chair. I was now clad in a pair of grey pants and a blue shirt, both made of well-worn linen. At this time I was a little creeped out. Who exactly had undressed me? A woman came into the room.

She was a snow leopard with kind green eyes. She smiled when she saw me. "Thank goodness, you're up. We were worried about you for a little while. You were so weak, we weren't sure it you would live through the night," she explained. We? Who is this we?

"Where am I?" I was surprised to hear my voice was so scratchy and dry.

"You're somewhere safe, and that's all that matters. You don't have to be afraid; we're not going to hurt you." I still didn't know who the others in this plural were. But it was partly answered when another snow leopard entered, this one only a little shorter than the female.

"Mama, I brought you the compress like you asked me to."

"Thank you, Xin. Why don't you give it to her while I get her something to eat?" He nodded and set his gaze on me as his mother left. I was a little bit frightened as he looked at me. His bright yellow eyes stared at me softly, and my heart skipped a beat. He was cute, and you could see the slightest bit of muscle through his shirt.

He came over to my side and gently laid a cool cloth on my forehead, pressing lightly. "Y-your name is Xin?" I asked weakly.

He nodded. "Yes. And may I ask yours?" I wanted to giggle like an idiot. He was a gentleman. But I was far too tired.

"Angel. Can you tell me where I am?" Xin smiled.

"Nice name. You're in our house. My dad found you unconscious in the woods, and he brought you back here. My mother was really scared for you, she thought you were dead. My sister wouldn't stop poking you until my dad yelled at her," he clarified.

"You have a sister?" He nodded.

"Her name's Biyu. She's only seven, so we can't really blame her. She had no idea what you were. She's never seen a red panda before."

I sighed and snuggled back into my pillow. "Remind me later to build a shrine to your father."

Xin grinned. "Yeah, he's great. He's always doing charity work. To be honest, you're not the first person he's brought home for care."

"He sounds nice," I agreed.

"Son." Xin looked to the doorway. "I'll watch her. Go and make sure your sister doesn't get into trouble."

Xin nodded, "Yes, father." He left the room, and I watched him go. Nice meeting you. I was alone in the room with the man who saved me.

A/N: OMG, I GOT Kung Fu Panda on DVD LAST NIGHT AND IT IS AMAZING!!!!! The sequel that came with it isn't as long as I expected, but it's still really awesome! Now all we have to do is wait for 2011 for the next one! Whoo! Anyway, here's the real author's note. I know everyone is going to have a guess about Xin's father, but KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!!! I don't want to read who it is in your review. That really bugs me when people do that. So thanks to those who respect my wishes. Holla!