Chapter Thirty-Seven
What is destiny?
Where the winds of fate flee...?
Where life takes me...?
Sometime you will see...
What is destiny...?
Shen swung his body around, his train flowing like water around him. This was by his own choice, for once at peace with himself. His feathers fell like snow around him, mixing with the leaves and firmament beneath his swiftly moving feet.
He had finally reached somewhat of a resting place, where his life could flow like poetry.
Although it was far from perfect, he was satisfied, a thing that he not felt since forever...
He had realized something.
He was an incredibly fortunate individual. Born in a royal family, having the best of everything growing up, parents who loved him, and then loyal servants who stayed with him until he died, then he was sent back from the dead...Shen had just realized how incredibly rare that was...and then, despite his crimes, he had found probably the only two people in Gongmen who would forgive him...despite the fact he tried to kill them.
They had something he had not... forgiveness. He wanted that, and he would try to get it.
He had no conscience, but he was improving, even the sna... Viper had admitted that.
What would he do with his life, once he had finished? He didn't know, but he was free...he was free! No one to oblige, no ambitious duties to fulfill...he was free.
He flung his wings upwards, feeling the air around him.
The panda had not made fun of him for his appearance, much to Shen's surprise. Apparently, one of his fellow masters was also molting, and Po had found himself in much trouble for picking at HIS appearance.
These Masters...they never seemed to stop surprising him. He was now remembering what his old Master had told him...
"Kung Fu means 'perfection of self'. Not all of it is about fighting, not all of it is about punches and kicks. In fact, all of that is only a small part of Kung Fu. Kung Fu is about being the best you can be. Kung Fu's main purpose is not the self defense method, but about training your mind. Discipline, courage, confidence, patience, and compassion. That is what Kung Fu is about."
Shen had thought this was all nonsense, especially the last one. Compassion? In a deadly defense form? That was ridiculous...
Shen had always thought of Kung Fu on the giving end, being the one giving the kicks, the punches, having to give compassion.
But now, he saw it as never before: from the perspective of the one who would receive the compassion.
From that perspective, compassion seemed much more important...if only he had seen that sooner...but better late than never.
He would cover his problems when he reached them. He had plenty of time...
He swirled his train upwards, a few more train feathers falling to the ground.
What is destiny?
When the lives of your past you no longer see...?
What the light of your life lets you be...?
What is destiny?
He would find out.
He was sure of it, as sure as was ever sure of anything.
He leaped upwards, flying as freely as his spirit...
He was not finished, there was still so much left for him to learn. That would come later...for now, he could bask in his happiness.
Why was he in such a thoughtfully happy mood?
Because he had just realized how very much blessed he was.
Thinking alone had its benefits. Shen had been thinking, and he had followed his life. It was almost like his life was following a storyline, a plot...filled with sorrow, but with the hinting traces of redemption, lying like glowing coals beneath a blanket. What it led up to, he didn't know, but it was unimportant. He could see everywhere his life reached a turning point, a choice was given, like someone had built a maze, always leaving a way out.
The crossways of destiny...
To Shen, it was like a curtain was pulled away from his eyes, like looking at a ripped picture, when the whole glorious world lay before you, splayed out in splendorous beauty. It was a revelation, a marvelous story...
Shen had never before noticed the other choices, always believing he had been driven to his fate. But now, he saw that he had always been in control, that when it seemed like there had only ever been one choice, that there were several.
It was soothing, knowing he was not entirely driven, simply blinded...
He span in his flight, swirling in the air, over and over again...
His life was like that. Swirling, always swirling...never predictable, constantly moving, ceaselessly alive... He had a life of twists, starting at good, going in a twisted spiral to darkness...and slowly ascending to the light once more. Where would he end up? Only time could tell.
He landed on the ground, the landing barely slowing him down, as he instantly rolled sideways into the air...
Solid ground. Shen's life had never been in a stable place. There was always the possibility that something would happen, and his life would collapse like a house of cards. One day, perhaps...he would be able to stand on two feet, unafraid.
He spiraled back down, standing still. Breath deep, seek peace.
Peace? There was no peace in pride. Shen was a peacock, his body was naturally never at true rest. The panda...he had a look of such...peace... something Shen deeply envied. Shen had hurt Po deeply, yet he was able to shake it off, to let it fly, forgetting it all. Then, by some miracle, he was able to find it in his heart to offer redemption to the one who had caused it all.
How? How could such peace be found? One cannot simply forget the past. To forget is to fail. All the lessons his life had taught him...the past is a valuable thing.
"We learn from the past, we look to the future..."
Shen had heard those words before, and they had filled him with excitement. Even now, he still understood the importance of learning from the past. How then, was one to "let it go?"
"...and we build on the present."
Perhaps that was it, and you were to learn from the past, not draw pains from it... To use what had happened in the past to give experience to actions now.
Shen had never thought about the moment now. Whenever he made a decision, it was based on how it would impact the future, based on the past. He had followed that saying to the grave, but never truly understood it's full meaning.
One cannot have their head in the future, and live in the present at the same time. It mars perception, twists happiness.
Shen had always thought about the future, always. In any moment, his response to a question was based on the future...
Perhaps he had not looked far enough. No matter how far in the future he looked, he could now see no place in which he could be truly happy...no place where he was at rest...
But now, just for now, as he drew back from the future and focused on the present, he realized he was happy now, now!
When one looked solely to the future for happiness, one was never going to be happy. Shen's looking to the future had blocked him from what was happening now.
Because of this, Shen had never had a perfect moment. He had never known what it meant to be truly happy! Never! Although the future was bright in some places, the now was always brighter. Perhaps that was why his nanny was seldom happy...
Looking to the future could give hope, instill pride. But searching it for happiness was sure to fail...
Shen understood at last. He had to forgive those who had hurt him in the past, or else peace would forever evade him.
Feathers fell to the ground, tickling his feet. His feathers were falling away, pulling off.
How fitting. Just as his feathers fell away, his old life was falling. Just as his feathers budded into growth, his new life began to grow.
But something was wrong. Since when did he wait for things to just, fall off? Since never! He took his destiny into his own wings...
He turned, examining his train. Only a few feathers remained... How very, very fitting. The train of a peacock is the very picture of pride. Shen's pride was leaving, just as his train fell away. He was pleased. He was making steps, and it was time to take another one, to not let pride simply slip away, but to renounce it.
He reached backwards with his wings, softly fondling his loose feathers. He gathered them together in his hands.
Suddenly, he yanked away, wincing at the sudden pain. Stinging tears came to his eyes, as he brought his wing in front of his face, looking at the handful of red, white, and black feathers they contained.
The denouncement of pride...
Shen was left standing, perfectly motionless, without any trace of a train, with feathers in his wings. The gravity of what he had just done suddenly seemed to sink in on him, and he screeched. His train was gone! His train...was... GONE! But he was free... It would grow back. And he was FREE! He had renounced that pride of his at long last.
Now, anything was possible.
What is destiny?
Where I want to be!
That is destiny.
That is destiny!
Shen gathered his dark robes next to him, as the bats set up the ring for yet another projectile test.
"Light!"
The call echoed throughout the cavern, and a few seconds later, a bat holding a long metal shaft rocketed backwards, propelled by the recoil of the launch.
The projectile was perfected already, but Shen was struggling with the actual launching of it. He had eventually settled for leaving a small charge inside the shaft, which, when ignited, would propel the rocket forward, at the same time as lighting the main charge on the rocket itself.
Shen's rocket was a masterpiece of ingenuity. A simple metal ellipse, Shen had added stabilizing fins to, mimicking his own flight feathers. The fins would cause the rocket to spin, keeping it on trajectory. That much was simple. But the real genius came in the form of the coating that was pasted on the steel; a type of extremely flammable paint. When the rocket was launched, it would ignite, burning for several hours afterwards. But what Shen was really proud of was what came next. Each rocket was equipped with a collapsible nose cone, which carried a comparatively large amount of highly explosive gunpowder. When the rocket impacted, the cone would push inwards, pushing the fiery outsides of the rocket into the exterior, causing the gunpowder to detonate.
On top of that, the whole thing was very simple to produce, and therefore both rockets and launchers could be produced at unprecedented speeds.
That much had been foolproofed, several craters throughout the cave gave testimony to that.
It was accurate and sustainable launching that was giving Shen a headache. So far, he had tried everything from simply launching the rocket by a fuse, to releasing a flammable spring.
So far, the small explosive cap imbedded within the shaft was working best, but it was incredibly focused, therefore producing large amounts of recoil, which the bat's small bodies could not cope with. Shen had tried nearly every formula he could think of to reduce the recoil, but was now down to the very last one. He had high hopes for this one though, which is why he had saved it for last.
He picked up the shaft, and placed the cap at the back of the shaft, before slotting the rocket into place in front of it. The whole process took just over a minute, with practice, that could be improved. The quick reload was one of the many advantages his new rocket launchers had over the old cannons.
Shen handed the launcher to the test bat, a determined little guy, who was still at it, despite the many injuries that this launcher had given him.
"Clear!" Shen called, stepping back.
"Clear!" the bats echoed, their hands over their ears.
"Light!" Shen commanded.
The test-bat touched the lighter to the back of the cap. Shen watched this, and made a mental note to add a lighting device to the launcher.
A quick tap to the lighting cap was enough to ignite the charge, and all the bats gasped in unision, as the rocket flew from the launcher, then abruptly sped up as it's own propulsion fired up. It flew with astonishing rapidity, striking the wall an amazing five hundred feet away.
This was a dud rocket, it did not explode.
All the same, Shen was filled with a glee that matched that of when he had destroyed the Tower of Sacred Flame. It had worked! The cap had worked!
This was the very final stage of prototype testing, after this, the weapon was to go into mass production.
Shen suddenly felt that sickening nervous feeling coming on. Tomorrow, he would have to give the finished weapon to Aang, and there was nothing in the world to stop the bat from discovering how the weapon worked... And then Shen would die.
He didn't like this, there were too many variables. When he had come into the Masters council, he was confident, how could he not be? His army alone was enough to take the city, and the cannons cemented that.
But here, everything depended on variables, variables which might bend away when he needed them. So far, Shen had only reached scroll number ten, in the ten weeks he had been here... Which was appalling. Aang knew the first fifteen scrolls contained tea recipes and such, and was giving him very limited access to the scrolls.
For now, he adressed the bats. "Will this be the last time I do this? Shen, get such thoughts out of your head!"
Clearing his mind, he spoke, silencing the cheering and applauding that was coming from the bats.
"Well done, everyone! You have just witnessed the birth of possibly..." he paused for dramatic affect, "the most destructive weapon in the history of China!"
Another round of applause burst from the bats.
Shen waved a little, before continuing. "The weapon you just saw fire is the final prototype, tomorrow, we begin the productions!"
The bats produced a mixture of good natured groans and cheers.
After speaking a few more words, Shen stepped down, and he bade them all goodnight.
Returning to his quarters, he was so wrapped in his own thoughts that he failed to notice Bianfu, scurrying up alongside him.
"Congratulations, sir!" the little bat piped. Getting no answer, he sighed. He knew exactly what was on the peacock's mind...
"Don't worry, I'm sure it will all work out..."
Shen still refused to answer, and trudged along in silence. Suddenly, he jerked upwards with a exclamation of pain.
"Don't stand on my train!" he yelled, turning around.
Bianfu, guilty as charged, shuffled nervously, as Shen carefully arranged his train feathers. He was going to keep those in there for as long as possible. His loose feathers made everything a bother, and fighting almost impossible.
"Sorry..." the bat mumbled.
Shen paid no attention, putting his train into perfect order. Then he turned to the bat.
"It's alright..." he muttered. He was far too perturbed to be angry.
He straightened himself out, and spoke again.
"Bianfu..." he seemed to be about to say something, but changed his mind. He looked up, at the doors which gave passage to his room. It looked like a prison, tonight more than any other.
"Good night, Bianfu..." he sighed, opening the doors, "I don't expect to see you again."
He opened the door and went in, closing behind him.
Bianfu stood there a minute, as the echoing boom faded away.
What was he to do? He had to do something, or else Aang would kill the best hope that the bats have had for centuries... Bianfu carried no loyalty towards Aang. It seemed like it was just yesterday... Aang needed recruits for his armies, and the enlisting bats were just not enough. He had dragged young batlings from their families, and tore families apart.
Bianfu was one of those bats. If anyone was going to start this, it would be him...
Bianfu launched into the air, streaking towards the prototyping rooms.
Shen sighed, then smiled, listening to the flutter of wings. He uttered a silent prayer that he had correctly judged the bat's character.
A yawn made it's way to Shen's beak, which he struggled to repress. He was so tired...but he could not rest. So much depended on that bat, so much...
"We toiled for the past ten weeks on those weapons!" a bat exclaimed, banging it's fist on the table, "We worked TOGETHER! And Aang will just brush all OUR work for himself, him and his elites."
The bats were holding an emergency (completely unauthorized) powwow, discussing the situation. In the bat-clans, the elites were the only ones seen. They got all the glory, they got all the power. But when something went wrong, it was the average working-class bats that bore the brunt of the blame. This caused much discontent among the lower ranks of bats, but they always kept it to themselves. Why? Because the class of a bat was decided by their physical strength. Only the strongest bats were chosen to be elites, and the elites ruled. The working-class bats were so much weaker than the elites, that a revolution would never succeed. But now, with the creation of a weapon which did not need large amounts of strength to be destructive...
"The peacock has given us a way!" the bat continued, "And I say we take it!"
A sound of murmuring passed round the table, as several bats voices there opinions at once.
"There's only one launcher!"
"We haven't got the numbers!"
"Yeah, and who would lead us, even if we did manage to overthrow Aang?"
"Shen would."
The last voice silenced the others, as a new bat stepped downwards from the ceiling. The bats gathered around the table drew their blades, ready to fight. Dissension in the ranks was not tolerated, if these bats were so much as suspected of having "rebellious thoughts" they could as well say goodbye to their lives.
The new bat raised it's wings, showing the plaid coat: it was not an elite. Several of the bats relaxed, but a few remained on their feet.
The bat strode forward, nervous, but determined.
"Shen would lead us."
The gathering of bats voiced their disapproval. Be led by a bird? Never!
The bat sighed, then continued, "Who knows more about these weapons? No one. And who is the one giving us this rare chance? Him. How could we NOT follow him?"
Another bat at the table responded. "He is a BIRD, Bianfu! Bats do not follow birds, it would be going against our nature!"
Bianfu shook his head. "He protected me from Aang. He protected all of you! And how do you repay him?"
"He is a bird!" another bat chimed in, "We cannot follow him."
"He has given us his life's work!" Bianfu responded, his ears going back against his head, "he has poured his life into it! As he made the weapon, for US, he has been slowly dying! If that does not prove that he is better than Aang, I don't know what does!"
Bats, knowing nothing about birds and molting habits, had interpreted Shen's molt as a life-drain, showing that as Shen gave life to these weapons, he lost life of his own.
"Bianfu is right!" a small, high-pitched voice piped from the back of the table, as a small bat stood up, "Shen has done more for us than Aang ever has!"
The small bat sat back down quickly, as row upon row of eyes turned to him. The bats pondered for a while, but eventually came back down to the same answer.
"He is a bird," a large fruit bat said, crossing his wings, "Bats do not follow birds. It would be a blatant disregard for the instructions of our great ancestor, Long."
Bianfu clapped his palm to his face. "The peacock is wise. He knows many things, things that are far beyond our comprehension. He knows how to make metal burn like wood, and how to make pictures of fire," he looked around.
"If he is that wise, let him take care of himself," The fruit bat replied.
"He is tired!" Bianfu hissed, "Can you not see his appearance?"
The fruit bat was unimpressed. "He is a descendant of Fenghuang! He cannot be trusted!"
Bianfu smiled, as something came to mind. "The peacock is wise, that is true?"
The bats all nodded, that much was indisputable.
Bianfu grinned. "Well," he began, "He told me the truth. Fenghuang and Long, our ancestors, were not rivals, but partners, a harmonious joining of opposites to form the perfect unity! Just think, with his wisdom and power, and our numbers and cunning, we could rule, not only China, but the WORLD!"
The bats pondered this. They had often wondered why the dragon even had a rival in the Phoenix, when the dragon was so much larger and stronger. This seemed to make much more sense.
"But..." the fruit bat questioned, "How do we know which one is true?"
"Shen says we cannot," Bianfu replied, "We can only choose our belief, and try to live it."
The bats murmured in approval,
as they each lapsed into silence. Bianfu took advantage of their moment of indecision.
"Come on, how many of you have ever been helped by Aang? How many have ever been repaid for dragging us away from our homes?"
The murmuring increased. For such a little guy, Bianfu was good at arguing.
"How many here would like to see HIM writhing beneath us?"
Suddenly, each and every one of the bats on the table let out an enormous roar.
Bianfu understood. These were bats from every variety, every species. It was a spectrum of bat beliefs and cultures. But they were all united by a common bond: the hate for the bat-Lord Aang.
Bianfu decided to play on that common bond. "That peacock has finally given us a chance to do it. I say he should be the one we fight for."
The small bat stood up again. "I still say you are right! Shen has proven himself as Aang never has. He deserves to lead us!"
Row upon row of eyes turned back to him, and the small bat prepared to sit back down again, but suddenly, another stood up.
"He is right! The Fenghuang and Long, working together for a common good! We stand united! He is the wisest one in the cave. He gave us this chance, he should be the one to lead us in it!"
And every bat there cheered.
An agreement was quickly reached. Shen would not die, not if they could help it!
The small group of bats set to work, making copies of the new launcher early, set aside for a very special purpose...
Amidst all the noise, no one noticed a swirl of red, white, and black feathers, trailing away into the darkness...
Author's note: REVOLUTION! Get out your flags, muskets, and pitchforks, people, 'cos next chapter, we will see the fall of Aang.
Oh, and on the odd chance that you want to use the AWFUL song/poem thingies in the first part, please ask me first. I made that myself (you can tell by the corniness).
Yeah, and Shen pulled out what was left of his train. If that doesn't show that he's devoted to his change, I don't know what does.
But don't worry, all you Shen fangirls, it will be grown back by the end of the story.
Also, to Alpha Tiger, about the review he left to my story 'Circling Flames': I know that they are clouded leopards in the show, but they were originally going to be lynxes, and I liked that better. Also, about the age, I was not aware that they said that Su was the eldest, but I like the thought of the youngest being the most evil. Seriously, why is it always the oldest child which is evil? I'm the oldest in my family, but I'm not evil... But anyway, thanks for the review, (the only one the story has so far) I appreciate that you took the time to actually read and find flaws in my narrative.
And now, please review. If you do not, I have to say this: WHY THE HECK ARE YOU REASING AND NOT REVIEWING, WHEN IT CLEARLY SAYS 'review' AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE?
Um... *Takes deep breath* sorry about that. Until next time, goodbye!