„Shen has chosen to follow a dark path, taking what was once a source of honor for his family and turning it to evil." (Phil Craven, Head of story, The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2, page 47)

4. The End of the Path?

"Liang? Liang?"

The peacock blinked and opened his eyes. A lantern swung over his head. In the glow of the light, his wife bent down to him with a worried face. Soft raindrops fell on him. His feathers were gummy under his eyes from the dried tears, but his plumage was already so wet from the rain that Ai didn't notice that.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I waited at home for hours and when you didn't come, I started looking for you. I was worried that something bad would have happened."

The peacock was silent. Slowly, the memories came back to his mind. His eyes went up to the sky. It was still dark night. The rain clouds already had transparent spots and gave a view of the starry sky beyond. Liang sat up. The starry sky became brighter a bit. He must have been lying here for a long time when it dawned.

"Is he okay?" Ai's voice tore him out from his thoughts.

The peacock's eyes wandered to his wife. The terrible feeling that had permeated him at his son's words rose again in him. Finally, he nodded slightly. "Yes, he's fine."

Ai looked down in relief.

But suddenly, a loud bang tore the air. Both peafowls immediately looked in the direction from which the noise had come.

"Is that...?" Ai didn't dare say it. But it was clearly a cannon shot.

Immediately, Liang stood up and looked across the plain. "It came from the city."

He didn't need to ask his wife. As fast as they could, they made their way through the woods. They did not dare to cross the meadows for fear of being discovered.

It felt like an eternity to both of them. They had almost reached the outskirts when another, much louder explosion boomed from the city, which worried the lord very much. The background noise indicated a devastating wave of destruction.

At last, they had reached the end of the forest. From here they had a good view of the city. Dawn had broken and the clouds turned an ominous dark red. Nevertheless, they could clearly see the moving lights of ships over the city river as they slowly glided into the harbor.

Liang pulled his wife's wing and together they ran down to the beach, which was a bit away from the city, so that they could watch the happening unobserved.

The harbor water was littered with debris.

The peacock narrowed his eyes and recognized his son in the middle ship. Somebody swam through the water and climbed on a rock which was sticking out of the water.

Liang immediately recognized who it was. Ai held her breath when she saw the panda.

"The warrior?" Was all what Ai could bring up in words. The fear literally constricted her throat.

Her husband wrapped his wings around her in a firm grip. For so a long time, they had feared that this would happen. And they had always resolved to be strong. They kept telling themselves that it was their son's fault who set everything on himself. But when the two fighters practically faced each other, with a field of water between them, the protective instinct arose inside the birds, which neither of them could suppress.

The ships positioned themselves in a row next to each other. The panda on the rock looked dejected, but he stood bravely on his feet.

Liang's gaze wandered between the two rivals. A whole fleet with heavy artillery stood against the black and white warrior. How should he gain a victory?

The ships held their positions. They neither drove past nor did they swim towards the panda.

Liang knew what Shen was up to. He knew his son's stubbornness all too well. If he had made up his mind, he literally clung to it.

Ai winced as the first cannonball fired. As much as she loved her son, she couldn't see when he hurt others.

Liang's embrace tightened around her. With bated breath, they waited for a scream.

But then... the panda made strange movements. It looked like he was practicing tai chi. And when the bullet hit him...

Both peafowls caught their breath with their heartbeat.

The panda caught it, spun it around, and threw it away. The ball disappeared somewhere in the sea. A few seconds of bewilderment resulted.

Another shot was fired. Again the panda caught the projectile and threw it high into the air, where it landed somewhere near the ships with a loud clap in the water this time. The same thing happened to all further shots.

The next, however, hit the ships and shattered them in ruins.

"No!" Ai shouted, completely stunned. Their son destroyed himself. Didn't he see that? The parents realized that it was impossible to defeat the warrior in this way. But her son seemed completely blind to this realization. Without pausing, he let more projectiles fire at the panda.

Finally, the black and white warrior whirled the fireball so forcefully in a circle and hurled it directly at Shen's ship. Before Shen could react, the cannonball hit his ship and exploded.

Lady Ai buried her face in her husband's robe, while Lord Liang kept his eyes glued to the harbor. He scanned the area convulsively. There was an extreme silence. As quiet as death.

In the meantime, it was so bright at dawn that they could see clear structures in the water. The ships were just a floating debris field. The haze was just above the surface of the sea, so the peacock made a decision.

Doughtily, he pushed Ai away and gave her a squeeze on the shoulders. "You wait here."

No sooner had he let go of her, the peahen raised her head in alarm. "Liang?"

With a deep sigh, the peacock looked at her. "I'll bring him back to you. I promise."

Then he ran. He stayed so close to the beach, which had a steep little rock wall. It was a risk for him to be seen by a passerby, but at the moment his son had priority. The peacock was determined to do anything. He would give his soul for him anytime, no matter how much blood of innocent dead souls was clinging to his feathers.

Fortunately for Liang, he didn't meet anyone. All the townspeople seemed to have gathered directly in the town's harbor. On the outskirts, the peacock found the first heavy pieces of ship rubble. The remaining wolves had meanwhile rescued themselves on the bank. Liang took a run-up and with a few elegant jumps and almost silent flaps of his wings, he scurried across the surface of the water, using the debris as an intermediate stop for a jump.

The haze over the water gave way more and more to the incoming sun, which was still hidden behind the horizon. Now and then the peacock lord crouched on a wooden plank and listened. Only when he heard a wild scramble, he pricked up his ears. He quickly followed the noise that sounded like a fight. Then suddenly, the fog lifted completely and the lord's heart stopped.

Several meters away from him rose a broken shipwreck, some of which was still sticking out of the water. And on the remaining deck, a white figure jumped back and forth. Liang recognized his son, who seemed completely out of control. Again and again he chased another person and threw everything he had on him in weapons.

At that moment, the words echoed through Liang's mind: If he does not deviate from his dark path, he will defeat him.

"Defeat?" But what was that supposed to mean? Was his son's death inevitable?

Totally incapable of doing anything, the peacock watched the hunt and wondered why the panda didn't attack his attacker.

Suddenly, there was a cracking noise. Liang's eyes widened in horror. The cannon, which was halfway through the explosion, began to tilt. And Shen was right below it.

The white peacock looked overhead. With tension, Liang stood on his tiptoes.

Why didn't his son run away?

He noticed another movement out of the corner of his eye. The panda had recognized the danger and ran away.

In those seconds, time seemed to stand still. Liang watched helplessly as the cannon was pulled down by gravity. And Shen still didn't move.

"No!" Liang screamed in his mind. "That's not his fate! Not if I can prevent it!"

Liang saw that he was too far away. He couldn't help him anymore. Quickly, he reached for a floating wooden board.

Not like that, my son! Not like that!

He jumped up and kicked it with full force. The wooden projectile cut the air. It was hardly to be seen. And when it touched the white peacock, the cannon smashed the shipwreck with full force and exploded.

No sooner had the explosion died down, the peacock father threw himself into the water.

Lady Ai thought, her heart was going to die. Something in her literally withered away, which was searching desperately for support. She pressed her wings on her beak. She had seen the white figure under the cannon. Now it was gone.

The peahen felt a tremendous tremor that spread from her knees over her entire body. In desperation, she looked for her husband. There were many more small explosions from the remaining gunpowder above the ship. Gradually, it calmed down. In contrast to the mother's inner mind. Ai stared spellbound at the picture, hoping all the time that a white body would break through the surface of the water and fondle to the shore.

When nothing happened for over a minute, the peahen shook her head in disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to believe what had just happened.

Suddenly, she jerked her head up as something slid across the surface of the water. But it didn't flow with the current, it swam. Now and then a rowing wing appeared, spraying drops of water glittering in the morning sun.

"Shen?" she breathed breathlessly. "Shen?!"

A gasp let out Liang's voice.

"Ai!" the peacock gasped and beckoned his wife over to him. "Over here!"

The peahen couldn't help but throw herself into the water. She swam the crawl hastily towards him. They were only a few yards apart. She swam like it was for her life. No, not for her life - for his!

"LIANG! What is it?!"

In the next moment, she was with him. She felt feathers under her winged hand. Something white lay under the surface of the water. Liang struggled to keep something afloat. Ai's heart stopped when she saw the white head with the closed eyes, which had covered with fresh blood.

"SHEN! NO! NO! Oh no! Tell me he's still alive!"

For a moment, the peahen forgot that she was in the water. Her wings were only looking for her son and pressed his body to hers.

"Ai, pull yourself together!" Liang corrected her. "We have to get him ashore. Help me!"

At last, the mother peacock woke up from her stupefied state, and both paddled to the bank. As soon as they felt solid ground beneath their feet, they dragged the white peacock out of the wet and dragged him with painstaking care over the gravel floor. They gently laid their son down on the dry ground.

Liang rubbed his face. You couldn't tell whether it was just water or tears as well. He had sworn not to get emotional, but the sight of it made all his self-discipline go to the knees.

"Son!"

"Shen!" Ai shouted, completely distraught. "Say something!"

Both leaned over him. But that, what once was their son, did not move. Liang tried to keep his head clear and tried to assess the damage which the white peacock had suffered from the explosion. The cannon hadn't hit him, thanks to his projectile, but the splinters of wood were all the worse. All over the left side of the body, large and small wooden needles were sticking in the formerly white plumage. His once proud feathers were partly burned and stuck together with blood.

With trembling finger feathers, Ai turned Shen's head. On the left side were several splinters with the size of a pen. Gently, she stroked it. Shen threw his head back and wanted to scream, but he managed nothing but a hoarse cawing. Liang immediately pushed his shoulders back down. Shen squirmed a little, but he didn't wake up. Whimpering, he turned his head back and forth. But when the splinters of wood touched the floor, he winced.

Ai's beak lips began to shake. She was about to burst into tears. But even before it came to that, Liang spoke a word of power.

"Ai! Look at me, look at me!" The peacock encompassed his wife's face and looked intently into her eyes. "It's no use sitting around here. We have to get him out of here! Hurry up, before they discover us."

Fortunately for Liang, Ai got up immediately and together they carried away their seriously injured son.

In the next moment, rockets popped into the air. The parents looked back at the harbor. Where the ship had exploded, beautiful shimmering fireworks sparkled, which briefly formed the shape of a peacock's head. Both got a terrible feeling. Was that a good or a bad sign?

If you think that the story is almost done, then you are wrong. This was just the beginning.