2. A familiar face

The goat hadn't exaggerated. The next village was full of business and there were a lot of people around. There were even several shops in one street. Po walked past the stands and looked from one side to the other. There were many vases on offer here, but also other things such as necklaces, jewelry and toys. Po frowned. It just wasn't that special. It should be something special.

While the panda walked, lost in thought on the street among the many animals, his glance stuck on something.

He was almost at the end of the street when he noticed a shop that was a little different from the others. In the shop window there were also common goods inside, but also things that Po had never seen before. Including blankets, pillows and animal figures that were painted in bright colors.

There was a small sign next to the door: "Chinese and Indian souvenirs," he read.

Po frowned. Then he reached for the door. Maybe he could find something here. No sooner had he pushed the door open, a bell rang above him.

Hesitantly he entered. "Uh, hello? Anyone here?"

The shop was crammed with all sorts of odds and ends. Shirts, necklaces, figures - mostly brightly painted elephants. Po took one of them in his paw with interest. "Mm, do they have tigers here, too?"

He looked around. Then he recognized a table at the end of the room with a figure sitting at it. She had turned her back on him and seemed to be busy with something else.

On the spur of the moment, Po went to the person.

"Uh, excuse me? Can you tell me...?"

The sentence got stuck in the panda's throat. The figure behind the table turned around to him slowly and folded his wings together.

It was a peacock.

"Can I help you?"

Po widened his eyes. Then he screamed. Maybe for five seconds. Then he fell silent. The peacock hadn't moved a muscle and was looking at him almost bored.

"Anything else?" He asked as if nothing had happened.

Po opened and closed his mouth. "Uh... did I want anything?"

His glance stuck on the peacock. He wasn't white, but his appearance was very much like Shen. He was only different in color. He had blue-green plumage and wore a dark shirt with brightly colored edges.

The peacock leaned forward.

"Do you want to buy something now or not?" he asked, a little annoyed.

Po only wondered at the moment whether he should test whether the color of the peacock was real or fake.

"Uh, my name is Po," the panda burst out. Why did he ask that? That was a peacock... just a peacock...

The peacock nodded neutrally. "Nice to meet you."

"Okay," Po thought. "It really doesn't seem that…"

Po craned his neck. "And your name is...?"

The peacock hesitated, but then he opened his mouth.

"Shayan... and no, that's not a joke! And no, I don't have a title of nobility! It's just Sha-yan! That's Hindi! I come from India!"

Po looked at him in surprise. He hadn't exactly expected that reaction now. "Uh, pardon, I don't understand…"

The peacock narrowed his eyes. "Just to make it clear, I have no connection with a certain Lord Shen. I'm not related to him either."

Po's eyes grew. "Wait a moment! How do you know that…"

"You're not the first person who looks at me like that," Shayan interrupted, which embarrassed Po a little. He put his fingertips together nervously.

"Uh, how do you come up with the fact that…?"

"Oh, come on! You are just like everyone in these streets! Everyone believes that I have something to do with Shen - because I look like that."

Po was always uncomfortable when someone was angry with him and tried somehow to change the subject. His glance fell on a box with fireworks.

"Oh, you sell fireworks…?" Po bit his lower lip. Why had he asked that again now?

The peacock narrowed his eyes. "Is there a law that prohibits peacocks from selling fireworks?" he asked angrily.

Po waved his hands defensively. "No, no, no, I just said…"

"Good day!" the peacock interrupted him gruffly and pointed hard at the door.

Po looked at him in disbelief. "Hey, I haven't bought anything yet…"

But Shayan didn't let him finish. He just pushed the panda outside and closed the door.

"Hey! What about my present?" Po cried. "A little souvenir at least? Sir?"

In the next moment a sign "Closed!" dangled on the window of the door.

With disappointment, the panda left the street.

Sighing, Po rubbed his aching feet. He was sitting in a large restaurant and had just ordered a soup. He was always happy about a meal, but today it sat heavily on his stomach. He still hadn't found a present. Maybe he should make something for her after all, but he wanted to give her something very special.

Sighing, he shuffled his soup. He couldn't forget the strange encounter in the store. For a moment the panda had really believed he was facing Shen, albeit in a different outfit and color.

Po swallowed the soup. Somehow, he had to finally realize that this was nonsense. There were many peacocks in the world. Why should every peacock have a connection with Shen? That was ridiculous. Neither is any snow leopard related to Tai Lung; that was just as laughable.

Po thoughtfully stirred through the rest of the soup. Then he took the bowl and emptied the rest. At that moment, he heard voices behind him at the next table.

"Have you already heard? This dragon warrior was with this peacock today."

When Po heard the word "Dragon Warrior" he perked an ear.

"That's not a good sign," someone else said.

Po swallowed the rest of the soup and turned around. Behind him was a partition to another part of the restaurant. There were small cracks between the wooden boards so that the panda could see through between them, albeit with very limited vision.

Behind it sat old goats with long beards at a table.

"It is time we do the job properly to get this bad luck bird out of here," one of them said. "He is ruining our reputation in the city."

The others nodded.

"I'm going to hire someone, they are more than welcome to persuade him to withdraw," one of them offered.

"And how exactly are they supposed to persuade him?" another one asked. "The hard way or the very hard way?"

The first goat thought about it. "Only so far that he can still pack his things. We need even less of a murder in our city."

Po was startled at these words and sank back on his seat.

"Shayan" is an Indian name and means: Intelligent, courteous; a person who is worthy and deserves good things in life. There is also a Chinese word shàyǎn, but it has a different meaning like "in the wrink of an eye" or "in a trice", or shāyán ~ sandstone…

But maybe that's one more reason why he loves the Chinese culture, but more later. For TiPo fans, don't worry, Po and Tigress come later, but this part was important for the plot.

This chapter was translated from German into English by me and was corrected by Starless echoes.