Hello there!

First of all, I don't know if anyone noticed this, but the KFP fandom has officially moved from 4.9 K stories to 5.0 K. Whoohoo! Damn, I know we probably aren't getting to 6,000 any time soon unless KFP 4 comes out soon, but hey, you gotta take wins where you can get them!

Okay, here we are! The story's M now (and is most certainly going to stay that way.)

So… trigger warning up ahead (in the first scene, by the way)!

Ready for it? Regardless of your answer, here we go…

On with the show!

Outskirts of the Valley- Evening

After Shao had hobbled away from a raging Tigress as fast as humanly possible, he had hurried home and instantly started to pack whatever was in his line of sight inside his bag before leaving his house and running on the road. He was sure people must have stared at him on the road to- well, wherever he was going- but he didn't notice, as he just wanted to run. To run and run and run. Run away from what had just happened. Run away from Tigress. Run away from the two leopards who knew where he lived.

But most of all, he wanted to run from what he had done. He never wanted to face it again.

When his legs finally failed him and he collapsed on the side of some back-end street, surrounded by endless bamboo trees, with no other soul in sight, he just layed there, his face in the dry dirt. What was the point of getting up again? There was nothing to live for anymore. Hopefully some merchant wouldn't see him in the night and run over him with their cart as they dragged it along behind them. At least then he wouldn't have to face the truth.

But after a good solid hour of laying there, his bag still in one of his paws, he realized that there was no one on the road he was on, and there probably wouldn't be one for a long time. So he slowly got up, his fur a mess, tangled and caked with dirt. His eyes wandered everywhere except for the place he was going, and he was dragging his now-opened bag along the road, all its contents spilling out along the road.

He knew perfectly well he was dropping all of his possessions in the street, probably for some straggler to come and steal later, but he didn't care in the slightest. He soon decided to drop the bag. He probably wouldn't need his possessions shortly, anyway…

His foggy mind suddenly thought of something. He slowly turned back around and looked at the trail of dirty and wrinkled clothes that he had made for the last thirty meters. Laying there, a beam of sunlight shining down through the trees all around it, was the weapon. Just laying there, waiting for anyone to come along and pick it up.

At that moment, Shao had a sudden urge to just turn around and leave it there. After all, it had been a curse to him the moment he had made the decision to take it for himself. Better to let another come and take it, and rid him of the curse.

But after further thought, he knew he couldn't ever let another person see that thing, so he stumbled along back the way he had come, leaning over to pick up his self-inflicted curse and shoving it inside the brim of his pants, turning around and heading along the road. In all honesty, he had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that it was some back-road out of the Valley of Peace, and he wanted to be any place except for there, so it was as good a place as any to go.

After about another hour of stumbling along, the Sun began to grow red in the sky as it approached the horizon. Shao could vaguely remember how he had felt the morning after he had murdered Master Croc. His brain had tried to numb itself of all emotions to counter the pain, but it still seeped through and ate at him anyway. The feeling had now increased a hundredfold.

He ran the scene through his mind again. Po and Tigress were just about to make their wedding vows, and time was slipping right through the goat's hooves. He knew if he let them kiss and leave the front of the crowd, he would never get close enough to kill Tigress. And he also knew he would never get the courage to try it again, and he would simply live the rest of his life wishing he could have done the right thing.

He didn't know how Po saw it. Maybe he moved too quickly. Maybe the Sun hit the metal tip of the weapon at just the wrong angle and shone in his eyes. Maybe the universe simply tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, there's a lunatic in the crowd about to kill your wife."

Shao could still remember that split-second. He had Tigress so locked in his sights, memories of laying sleepless in bed at the orphanage, clutching his sheets up to his chin, a cold sweat running down his fur, that he never saw Po diving until it was too late. The tip of his hoof had already begun the process of pulling the trigger, and the metal ball of death flew out of the weapon just as Po was diving in front of Tigress.

And in that moment, he had killed someone. An innocent person. How could it have gotten to this point? Shao was nobody, he'd done nothing important with his life. He really didn't have any enemies; he was just another person. And he killed someone. It seemed unthinkable.

But the fact that his neck now burned from the pain of keeping only one horn aloft was a painful reminder that it had happened. And now, the goat was lost. He didn't seem to know anything anymore. What was right, what was wrong, what was up, down, left, right, over, under, in between, across, inside, outside… It all just melded into a hot and sticky mess, suffocating him from the inside. All logical thought had now been put aside; he was now running on pure fear and adrenaline. All he knew was that he had to get out of the Valley. It didn't matter where, as long as it was away.

As Shao kept walking further and further, he still could see no evidence of civilization on the back-road he found himself on. So he simply turned to the side and headed into the thick clusters of bamboo trees that surrounded the dirt road. He moved forward like a robot, letting the branches and leaves slap his face and then snap back into place, not bothering with putting his hooves up to push them aside. He wasn't completely sure why he had left the road in the first place, but at this point, he really didn't care. As long as it was forward, it seemed alright.

After what seemed like many more hours, but was in actuality only thirty more minutes, Shao came upon a small clearing. The trees seemed to respect this small patch of ground, and before the goat had time to understand why, he heard splashing sounds.

He looked down and realized his hooves were ankle-deep in a shallow pool of dirty water. He looked around and saw he had entered a sort of tiny pond. As he tried to back up and pull his hooves out, the mud hugged his feet, making it difficult. It certainly wasn't impossible, but the difficulty sparked an idea within the goat's head.

"This water looks deep enough to lie down in…"

The goat suddenly stopped, standing still in the pool, pondering his next action with little hurry. After all, he had all the time in the world now. The thought had occurred to him earlier that he should just take his weapon, point it at his forehead, and pull the trigger, thus ending his misery. But he had soon come to the conclusion that they would find his body eventually, but far more importantly, they would find the weapon. And that could not be allowed to happen. So he had simply continued with his pointless journey forward.

But now that he was much more out of the way, on a road where he hadn't seen a single person, and far away from the road, who would find him now? And if the weapon was left long enough in the dirty water, surely it would break apart before anyone could find it.

Shao slowly pulled the weapon out of its place from the brim of his pants. He held it out before him and examined it. Its wooden barrel, its metal tip and trigger, its slot on the side to insert the miniature cannonballs. What a gift it had seemed only a few short hours ago. But now he had used it to throw his life away, and used it to condemn himself from his own home. It only seemed natural that it be the thing to finally end his pain once and for all.

He trudged a little further into the water until he was now waist-deep, now in the center of the little pond. He held up the weapon so it wouldn't get too wet, and he now turned it over so that he was peering down the length of the barrel. He moved it up to his head, right underneath where his horn- and the stump of his other horn- were located, gently pressing it into his forehead. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing to rid himself of his pain.

To rid him of his guilt.

To rid him of his confusion.

To finally, once and for all, rid him of the feeling that he was just another worthless drag on the world.

But now, on the brink of eternal rest, the tip of his hoof seemed hesitant to comply. His breathing began to speed up as he took quicker, shallower breaths, and his heartbeat drastically sped up, almost as if it wanted to get as many final beats out as possible before it stopped beating altogether. He willed himself to pull the trigger, his will growing stronger and stronger, until finally his finger finally applied some pressure to the trigger and-

BAM!

The goat still stood there, the firearm in his hoof, now smoking from the tip. He had pulled the trigger, but he had shifted the tip of the weapon just enough so that it fired up into the sky.

Shao began to grow angry; angry that he couldn't even muster the courage to do something as simple as killing himself. It seemed easy. He had killed Master Croc and the freaking Dragon Warrior! People hundreds of times more powerful had tried the same thing, but all had failed. All except him. Surely he could kill himself.

Now shaking with anger, the goat threw the weapon as far away from him as he could. He heard it crash through some dense foliage as it landed on the ground. He brought his hooves together across his chest as he fell backwards into the murky water. If he couldn't bring himself to pull that trigger, then maybe drowning might be an easier way to go.

When Shao's head was submerged in water, the first thing he noticed was how cold it was. It seemed to freeze his skin, making his layer of fur seem worthless. The goat held his breath, determined to stay that way until he filled his lungs with the muddy water.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the pond, no trace could be seen of the goat other than a few ripples where he had just submerged himself. After a few seconds, a few bubbles could be seen rising to the surface, presumably where he was exhaling, attempting to speed up the process.

And then, there was silence and all was still.

At least until a hoof shot out of the water, followed by a single horn and a head attached to it. Shao brought himself out of the water, taking deep gulps of air as if he never realized how precious it was. He was now completely soaked, his fur stuck to his skin, and his clothes also stuck to it. He angrily stormed out of the water and back onto the land, sitting down with his back against a bamboo tree.

If death couldn't save him from his pain, then maybe sleep would give him a small break from it.

Qian's Pharmacy

Meanwhile, while the explosion had rocked the Valley of Peace, one individual had continued to live life just like normal.

In the basement of his shop, he could be found merrily whistling to himself as he tinkered with items on the two tables on either end of the rectangular room.

But much more interesting was what was now on the center table. Whereas before there had been an assortment of useless trinkets, ready to sale to some stupid bandit, there was now a line of curious looking objects. They were all identical in size and shape. They were all long and thin, all curving down by one end, and the other end opening so that one could peer down inside of the object.

Next to the row of firearms were an assortment of metal spheres, completely solid. They seemed to be good only for paperweights, but the ram knew that dropping one was an extremely bad idea. But one that would only be made once.

Meanwhile, on the side table itself, Qian was busy finishing adjusting the small metal balls inside of a wooden object. After he seemed satisfied with his work, he turned around and pointed the object towards the concrete wall, which was now decorated with small, spherical holes from previous "tests."

Qian pulled the trigger back and-

BAM!

-there was now yet another small hole to accompany the others. Happy with his work, the ram smiled as he set the new weapon down alongside the others on the center table. He soon turned back around and walked down the aisle between the tables, until he came to a single open barrel resting in the corner.

Resting on the open edge of the barrel was a measuring cup. The ram took it in his hooves as he bent down and scooped up a cupful of the black powder into it. He held it up to eye-level and flattened the clump of gunpowder until he had the right amount.

He took it back to his table as he prepared to start yet another one of his weapons.

Valley Hospital- The Next Morning

Sleep was a luxury that was not to be taken lightly. In the hallways of the hospital, with its walls draped with patterned wallpaper and rows of candles mounted every few feet, the place had a sleepy atmosphere about it. But by the doors, an interesting group sat in a row of chairs.

There were two leopards, a goat, an ox, a goose, and two pandas. Outside, where the Sun moved on with its day as if nothing of importance had happened, and it stretched the tendrils of its first rays against an unwilling earth, the inside was much different. Everyone in the hall was asleep. Lianmin rested against her chair, her head leaned back against the wall. Master Ox uncomfortably had attempted to do the same thing, but the difference in size between the chair and him didn't make a good combination. He had stayed awake the longest during the night, which was an impressive feat given everyone's state of mind. The Soothsayer had somehow managed to lean her chin on the top of her walking stick, with her hooves folded underneath it for some padding. Li Shan also had his head resting on the back wall, a tiny bit of drool finding an escape route from his mouth via the corner and on to the side of his face. On his lap was a smaller panda, stretched out on top of his legs and supported by his arms. Still clutched in her paw was a wooden action figure. Its figure, with a red qipao covering its torso and black pants, was a little faded, but still shone with a silent determination. If it could speak of the things it had seen, it could tell near-endless tales of a goofy panda. A panda with a silly dream to do kung-fu. If it had been alive, it probably would have often wondered when the panda would grow up.

But one member of the party was not asleep. On the very edge, sitting next to his mother, was Peng. Unlike the rest, he had his chair flipped around so he could rest his chin on top of his paws, which were resting on top of the bridge of the support of the chair. His eyes were blankly staring off into the distance, thinking of things that had happened. Thinking of things that were happening. But perhaps most importantly, he was thinking of things that were going to happen.

Such as the impending bandit raid. It was over. They had won. All their years of planning, of plotting, of scheming, of wishing, of hating, it had all finally spilled over on the Valley, and if the citizens of the Valley weren't careful, they would find themselves drowning in the viscous liquid that was washing over them. For Peng, it seemed unreal. Things didn't happen like that. Everyone knew that good would triumph over evil. Yet unless there was a bigger game to be played by fate and her friends, it certainly seemed as if evil had won this time.

The bandits would come soon, that much was obvious to the leopard. The question that plagued his mind was… could they do anything to stop it? Perhaps it was time to seriously consider what life under the bandits' rule might be like. The more Peng thought of it, the more he tried to comfort himself that it couldn't be all bad. It wasn't as if they could subject everyone to slavery or crippling poverty. All the bandits wanted was more for themselves. If they had it, then they would probably leave everyone else alone.

Peng's thoughts were interrupted when his ears perked up at the sound of quick footsteps filling the hallways. One of the assistants, always characterized by the fact that they were young, came speed-walking from the corner as fast as her rabbit feet could manage, a sweat on her brow as she hurried off down the hall. She saw the sleeping group as she rounded the corner and slowed down, but she had already caught Peng's attention.

She seemed to be coming straight towards them, and her eyes locked on Peng, as he was the only one who was awake. He stood up and walked away from the group and towards her. When they met in the hall, she seemed to look past him.

"Can I help you?" Peng whispered, trying not to disturb the others' sleep.

"Well, yes, but I was hoping Master Ox would speak with me."

"Master Ox? Why? What's happened?"

But the bunny ignored the question and walked past Peng and towards Master Ox, gently shaking his knee, which was as high as she could reach. Master Ox softly opened his eyes, focused them, and peered down at the rabbit, who had the tip of her paw out over her mouth in a gesture of silence. He could make out her beckoning him away from the group, so he got up from his chair and followed the rabbit down the hall, Peng walking behind her on the other side.

When they followed her far away enough as to not wake the others, Master Ox asked-

"What's the issue?"

The rabbit seemed to take a deep breath before answering.

"Well, we just got reports that there's a… stranger roaming about in the village."

Ox and Peng waited a few seconds for some kind of elaboration, but they soon realized one wasn't coming.

"Is that it?" Peng asked with some relief in his voice.

"Well, I know that doesn't sound important, but the people of the Valley are a little on edge right now. I'm sure you understand. They don't need any more stress right now."

Master Ox sighed through his nose, beginning to mourn the pains he had gone through the previous night to fall asleep, only for it to be disturbed because a "stranger" was in the Valley.

Valley Streets

The old man had seen many things over the course of his life. But there were few things better than a sunrise.

There was just something about it to him that plucked all of his strings. The purity of the new day, the promise of a fresh hope that the day would be better than the last. No matter the horrors of the previous day, the rising of the Sun was there to humble them all and to remind them that the Sun would always rise in the sky, watching mortals' petty squabbles with some contempt, as surely something as pure as the Sun could never comprehend the terrible sins of the tiny people it shone down upon.

When the old man arrived in the Valley, he had expected something a lot cheerier. After all, he had come for a wedding. Of course, he knew he was probably a day or two late, but he lived far away and couldn't help it. He had set off as soon as he had heard about the wedding, wishing to see the magnificent event for himself, but also to see someone else he hadn't seen in a while.

But as he had strolled through the Valley at a slow pace, expecting to see festive sights and people in the streets, he was quite surprised to see almost no people about. And the few that were cast him very odd looks.

The old man looked up and could see the legendary Jade Palace in the distance. He could feel his toothless mouth widening into a smile as he was reminded of who he was about to see.

As he passed through the streets, he came upon an intersection of the roads. He looked each way, but couldn't decide which way to go. Before he could make his decision, he heard a deep voice call out to him from the side.

"You there! Who are you?" The old man turned and saw a large ox coming towards him, seemingly emerging from out of a building, with a young leopard by his side. But as the ox came closer and got a good look at the old man, he stopped, his eyes going wide.

Master Ox then bent his head forward and placed his fist in his palm. "My apologies," he quickly said. "I did not recognize you."

The old man nodded. "You must be Master Storming Ox of Gongmen City, are you not?"

Master Ox nodded once again.

The old man turned his gaze towards Peng. "And who is this young man?"

Following Ox's example, Peng put his fist in his palm and leaned his head forward. "My name is Peng, sir."

When Peng glanced back up at Master Ox, he could clearly see he was uncomfortable, but Peng couldn't understand why.

The old man chuckled. "This place seems awfully dejected when a wedding has just happened."

When he was met with a few seconds of silence from the two, his toothless smile faded from his face. "What? Am I mistaken?"

Peng was confused as to why Master Ox seemed so uncomfortable, so he decided to let him take control of the situation so he didn't have the chance to mess it up.

"Umm... no, no, you're not mistaken. A wedding… did happen here just yesterday."

The old man's eyes darted from Master Ox to Peng, as it began to occur to him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, where is everybody? Why aren't they celebrating?"

Master Ox took a deep breath. "I'm afraid there's been-"

Now beginning to grow afraid, the old man interrupted him. "Been what? What's wrong? What's happened here?"

"Sir, your daughter is in the hospital right now. She's in a critical condition."

The old snake recoiled his head as he heard the news. "My daughter? She's injured? What happened!? Where's the hospital!?"

"Grandmaster Viper, there was an attack on the Masters of the Jade Palace at the wedding. Your daughter and Master Tigress survived."

The grandmaster's brow shot up as he realized there was no extension to that last sentence.

"And…" he began.

Master Ox only nodded.

And that's a wrap! We hope you liked it!

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