So in this chapter I deicide to spilled it into two parts, it a pretty long one and I thought it will be easier to split it rather than jamming all of this stuff at once. There is mostly going to be a lot of talking for character development. The two ideas for this chapter were inspired by WhisperingWarrior, all credit goes to them. Enjoy!


Chapter 15: The Truth Comes Forward part1

He flew across the sky the best he can, every ten minutes or so Gang would have to take a break. The holes on his wing and his chest have healed but not completely. He can't even stretch because he was afraid it would tear open his wounds. He hoped that the scars were not permanent.

Gang landed on a high branch of a tree, catching his breath.

"Shen, you better be out there…" he breathed out.

After waking up from his nap, Gang remembered hearing noises outside. The blacksmith came up and told him what happen. He almost went to a state of panic when he was told Shen fell off the cliff. So now he was flying all over the deep forest, looking for Shen. But it wasn't because he cared, he still hasn't forgiven him, he was after something better.

Gang knows that the warlord has his plans with him and he wants it. He was curious about what the peacock came up with, he wanted to use it against Shen and make him pay for what he did. If he's not dying out there that is. Gang thought about for a second and realized it didn't matter if Shen was dead or alive; he'll get those plans one way or another.

A cold chill ran through his feathered body and turned to see the sky was getting darker and the wind was picking up.

"I better find a place to hide," Gang said to himself. He got off the branch and took to the skies, looking for a spot to take cover from the wind.


Shen wasn't sure if he should be concern about the panda or be annoyed by this.

All-day since yesterday Po was constantly rambling, still stunned by Shen who called him by his actual name. Normally it would be other names to insult the bear but the peacock called him Po this time. The panda went on talking to himself in a whispering tone.

"He said my name! Can't believe it, he actually said my name! He said my name."

By nightfall, they found another spot to set a fire before going to bed. Shen set the fire, feeding the flames with the wood he found nearby. He felt a pair of his eyes watching him and he knew who it was. He sighed as he turned his neck to see the panda, staring at him.

Now it was getting weird for Shen.

"What?"

"You said my name."

"Okay yes! I said your name, now will you stop this! It's getting on my nerves," Shen snapped.

"I'm sorry but how am I suppose to react?" Po asked sitting next to the peacock.

"Why is this such a big deal to you anyway?" the peacock questioned, still mildly annoyed.

Po had no idea why it was, no answer pops in his head.

"I'm don't know. You normally called me an idiot and other names, but you didn't. Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," Shen said ending the conversation. Shen's mind always had an answer to whatever he was feeling, but since he has been hesitant about his plan, his mind isn't sure about anything anymore. He just wanted to forget about yesterday's event and get himself refocus.

It then became quiet between the two of them, both watching the fire. Po was getting bored with the silence; this journey so far has been a mix of amusement, worry and mostly silence. Amusement because of how he and Shen were somewhat bonding a bit better, but worry because he knows something is on the peacock's mind. He knows it had something to do with their last conversation. Taking out a dumpling out from his bag, he chewed on his snack and thought about what he has to do. It was at that moment Po realized something that could help.

"You know what I just realized?" Po spoke breaking the silence.

"You talk with your mouth full?" Shen comment. He smirked as he glanced up to see Po's face, who was looking displeased by the joke.

Although Po wouldn't think Shen would even make a joke. He swallowed his food.

"No. I realized I, don't know anything about you."

Shen's smirked disappeared as if he didn't understand. "And that's shocking because?"

"Well it's just, you been with us for a while and we still don't know anything about each other."

Shen shook his head, " There's nothing to know."

"Do you know anything about me?" Po asked.

"Of course I do, you're the Dragon Warrior and sadly an imbecile."

"I meant outside from that," Po stated annoyed by the insult. He waited for the peacock to answer, but he said nothing, as Po knew he didn't have an answer for it.

"See? This is what I'm talking about."

Shen simply sighed from his beak, not wanting to talk about this.

"As I said, there's nothing to know and it's good that you don't know because nothing about myself…was happy."

Po sensed he was getting upset. He thought of another tactic that may help him, one where it doesn't stress the bird. Po took out another dumpling to eat but before he could eat it he looked at it for a moment. It reminded him of his home and the times he and his dad would cook together. And then the idea came to Po at last.

"I can tell you my story."

"What?"

"Yeah, why not I'll tell you my story on how I became the Dragon Warrior, that way you'll know me better."

However, Shen seems to be more wary about this than curious. He wondered what the panda would want to gain out of this, was it to earn trust or another way to get him to talk about himself. Whatever it was Shen was going to point out the oblivious.

"This is just another attempt for me to talk isn't it?"

Po smiled and shamefully shrugged his shoulders, "Heh, you got me there."

Shen rolled his eyes, but at least the panda was being honest than hiding the fact.

"Why tell me you're past right now?" asked Shen.

"Well, you don't really know all of it," said Po still having his confident smile, "I think it's time I tell you, after all, we're friends now. At least, I think we're becoming friends."

The peacock could have sworn he felt his heart skip when he heard the word friend. The suspicion suddenly gone and filled with a new hope, hope that he never thought he wanted. He stared at the panda, not only has he forgiven him but he has also is starting to see him as his friend. He closed his eyes and seconds later he started to giggle then turned into laughter.

Po sat still for a moment not grasping the sudden laughter. He didn't tell a joke or anything. He soon startled to laugh too, even though he wasn't sure what the heck was going on. The two laughed till they finally calm down. Po cached his breath, a bit weirded out by this sudden change of mood.

"Heh, eh, why are we laughing…?" Po spoke first.

Shen answered trying to calm his laughter.

"Be-because, this is so wrong. You're a warrior destined to rid anything wicked, but here you are befriending a murder like me. This should feel wrong so why is it natural to us?"

Po shrugged his shoulders again.

"Maybe it's because we've been stuck together for a few days. I'm surprised we haven't driven each other crazy yet."

They both chuckled lightly.

"You do have point," Po understands where he was coming from, "But I already forgiven you, so it shouldn't matter right?"

Shen didn't look too sure, things in the past always matter to him and he never lets them go. But Po, he had such a forgiven nature that he doesn't even dwell the past, not even once. It actually made Shen thinks, maybe should let this newfound hope in and let everything else go, it sounded a lot harder to do but he was willing to give it a try.

"I guess not," Shen uttered.

"So you wanna hear a story tonight?"

Shen thought about it for a moment, finally, he turned to the panda, giving a nod.

"Sure."

"All right, let's start at the beginning," Po paused and looked at the peacock, "Uh, maybe not all the way the beginning since we know what happens, um, let start with my mom."

Shen's eyes lighten, "Your mother?"

"Yeah, some of my memories are still vague but this one was really clear," Po explained as he tells his story.

"I remember my mom running in the forest, holding me. She ran until she found a radish basket and put me in it to hide," Po thought back to the memory of his mother, her last smile before she left, "She ran away without me to distract wolves. And that was the last time I saw her."

The peacock could hear the sadness in the panda's voice, he even saw small tears forming in his eyes. Po let the small tears fell and then he smiled, he rubbed his face after the tears dried up.

"But you know, if it weren't for her I wouldn't be here."

That was when Shen put the pieces together. The female panda that he dreamed before was Po's mother; it made sense. He never thought she had a child with her when he found her and- no, he didn't want to think about what he did. Just the thought of it almost made him felt sick, he never felt that way before. This feeling felt new. Shen didn't want to dwell on it right now, he wanted to hear Po's story.

"So the basket I was hiding was being delivered to the Valley of Peace, that's how I met my dad. I ate all of his radishes," Po laughed remembering his father's look, "Man, he taught me everything in cooking, like making noodles, making dumplings, I think my favorite was cooking with beets, I love beets."

"I got so good with my skills Dad thought I was going to take over the restaurant soon, but that wasn't what I wanted to do in my life. I wanted to something else, something awesome."

"And kung fu was your first thought?" Shen asked.

"I had other ideas like being a dancer and a janitor and a comedian."

"Hmph, you'll probably be worse than Monkey," Shen commented.

"Yeah, maybe-hey!" Po frowned while Shen just smiled to himself.

"Anyway I didn't know what kung fu was till I saw it for the first time and I was like, whoa I wanna do that."

Po then went on to describe the day Oogway announced the Dragon Warrior was going to be chosen. He went on how he wanted to see the show so bad and he went as far as putting fireworks on a chair. Of course, Shen found this fact to be impossible, there was no way small fireworks were able to lift a heavy panda, but he didn't bring it up as Po went on with his story.

"So Oogway choose me as the Dragon Warrior, I had no training or experience but he said I was the one. I thought it was just an accident, I mean, I had no idea what I was doing. It didn't help that Master Shifu was trying to get rid of me."

Po saw the look of confusion on the peacock face as if he didn't understand.

"Shifu and the Five weren't happy with the decision," said Po, "Tigress was upset the most, but after some time we got along. Then we heard Tai Lung escaped from prison and I was the only one to stop him."

While Po went on about his training with Shifu and the battle with Tai Lung, Shen was thinking about how Po was treated by the Five. None of them believed in the panda from the start, how can he be friends with people who have mistreated him. Shen was having a hard time trying to figure it out. He knew what that was like, to have nobody be there or believe in him, especially with his parents. It was at that point Shen thought; maybe he and the panda weren't so different after all.

"After three years of training, me and the Five went on another mission to stop some lord who was trying to take over China," Po eyed Shen with a smile, "He was a peacock with an annoying ego, and he was a very stubborn guy."

Shen knew what he was doing and rolled his eyes, "Okay I get it, you can stop there."

Po chuckled, "Well, that was my story."

"It wasn't what I expected."

"I know, crazy right?" Po beamed.

"But there's one thing I need to know," Shen added looking serious, "Why did you stay, after everything they put you through and how they treated you?"

Po blinked and thought for a moment, he didn't want to keep his reasons a secret, he only told Shifu but never one else. After thinking about it he told Shen his reasoning.

"The truth is, I didn't really like himself. I stayed because thought Shifu come help me be, not me, I wanted to be someone else. But I learn I can't change myself, not in a way I wanted to be, I only try my best to be an awesome kung fu warrior."

Shen was somewhat astonished by the panda, he had no clue Po thought of that of himself. And it astonishes him that the panda kept going and never let anything from the past to hold him down. It made him wish he could be like that.

Po yawned, rubbing his eyes gently, "Man I'm getting tired. Hey do wanna tell your story tomorrow?"

Shen turned away from the panda, he wasn't sure if he was ready to do something like that.

"I'm not sure…"

"Hey don't worry, there's no need to rush thing and we got all the time in the world," Po said before going off to bed, "Well goodnight."

While Po slept Shen couldn't get any sleep, he still thinking about the story he was told. He couldn't believe how much the panda has achieved after everything was taken was from him. Po had really moved on, he has really peace within himself, and that's why he has a better life and a family, while Shen has nothing. The peacock frowned as he closed his eyes trying to get some sleep. Now he was beginning to have more doubts about his plan, there were only three days left and he still is not close to the palace. Shen felt he should give up but he can't, he has chosen this path and he can't go back. He has told himself over and over again, he can't change who he is, no matter how much he actually wanted to.


The next day Po and Shen were on the road again, looking for anyone who can help them. They hadn't said much in the morning, Shen mostly kept silent while Po went on about having a weird dream about marrying a dumpling. About four hours in their journey, they noticed the wind picking up and the storm clouds rolling in. It was going to rain pretty soon.

"Maybe we can find a cave or something," said Po looking around the area.

Shen wasn't listening however; he was in deep thought thinking about his plans and Po's story. He was trying to think of what other ways he could give his plans to Gang but at the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about what Po said. It was distracting him. So much so that he didn't realize he stopped walking. The panda shared his personal story with him because he now sees Shen as his friend. The more Shen let this fact lingered in his mind, the more he was starting to feel, wrong.

As he stared at the panda who was still looking around for a cave, Shen made a decision. The panda has done so much for him, the one thing Shen could do was to pay him back by telling his story, maybe then Po could understand what he went through. Maybe he can understand why he can't change paths.

"Do you know what they look like?"

Po stopped and turned back to Shen who wasn't looking at his direction. He stared at the ground and his disfigured feet.

"You said never met other peacocks, do you know what they look like?"

Po titled his head, looking lost.

Shen continued, "They're colorful. They're vibrant, and each of their feathers has a very rich detail to them. And me, I'm nothing like them…"

Shen looked up only to see Po with a more confused expression; the peacock wasn't sure what he was going with this but he will try to start from the beginning, even though it was still painful to him.

"When I was born, I came out wrong. They thought I was going to die but when I didn't, there was still something wrong with me."

Shen felt so mortified telling someone this but he kept going. " I didn't look, my father or my mother. Throughout my life, I've been wondering what was my purpose being here."

As Shen went on talking about his life Po strolled back to him, showing that he was listening to every detail. Shen talked about the Soothsayer, all the times they spent together and how she took care of them. He talked about his friend Lang and the times they trained together. Shen even talked a little about his teacher Master Rhino, which got Po to be very excited.

"What was he like?" Po asked like the fanboy he was.

"He was um, wise and was a skilled teacher," Shen replied but didn't say much after that, probably because he killed his teacher.

"Anyway, as the years went by I began to study fireworks. My family was the ones who invented them, but I wanted to see what other possibilities could fireworks give us. It was like an obsession. When I discovered it could be used as a weapon, I wanted to research more."

Po could hear the tone of Shen's voice shifted. He could tell that the peacock had some passion for fireworks. Shen then went about how parents would try to talk him out on experimenting, but multiple times he would break into the lab to continue. Po realized this was when Shen's parents started to worry about him.

"And then the day came, the day the prophecy was foretold," Shen glanced up to Po meeting his eyes. He knew this next part will hurt the panda, but Po nodded for him to go on, giving him a reassuring smile but it made Shen feel a little nervous.

"I was going to visit the Soothsayer but I saw she was with them," Shen frowned remembering that day, "I heard everything they said, I walked away and ordered Lang to get the wolves ready."

The peacock felt himself shaking with saddest, fear, and anger, "When we came back my parents, they…they-"

He felt a hand on his shoulder; Po looked at Shen and could see he was getting upset. Shen looks down again. He didn't want to say anymore, it was just too much. But now, after letting most of his story come out Shen did felt like a boulder was lifted off of his heart.

"You don't have to tell me more," Po said understanding what went down between Shen and his parents, "But there's one thing I still don't get. How are you different?"

"He cannot be this naive?" Shen thought.

"Isn't it obvious? I have no color" he pointed out, "I look nothing like them."

"But you do have color."

Shen looked at Po like he was joking.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you have red colors, and some grey-black, and white colors. I mean I know they're not the brightest colors but there your colors."

Shen frowned, even more, feeling bitter, "You're missing the point, the color white is the color of death. That's what I am, I am death. I've been trying to prove that I'm not for so many years and nothing worked."

He sighed, "I have been nothing but a failure. Maybe I deserved to be. "

"No, you don't," Po trying to cheer him up, "I don't see you as any color of death. You have been proving that you can be better and I have seen that. And you know what you got out of all of this?"

"What?"

"You got me and the Furious Five as your buddies," Po smiled seeing he has given Shen more hope.

Shen didn't know whether to laugh at the panda's naiveness or just give in to his positivity.

"Shen you do have a purpose here, you'll find it and I know you will because that's how much I believe in you."

"That has to be, the most cliché thing you ever said," Shen finally said.

"What? It's not cliché. I'm being honest here" Po said chuckling.

Shen in retuned chuckled and felt his beak turned to a warm smile. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he showed a real smile. Maybe he should give this a chance.

The two kept moving forward for another hour till finally, they found a new spot to build a fire and shelter for the upcoming storm. Po was reviled to find a cave as he placed his backpack inside. The cave was decent enough for the two hide when the rain comes. They can hear the thunderstorms in the distance. Shen l gathered wood and started the fire.

"Is there anything we can eat?" he asked.

"Um, I ate the last dumpling," Po said sheepishly, "But I may have some uncooked noodles and veggies. I could try to make us some noodle soup."

"Very well, I'll gather more wood than before the rain comes," said Shen as he stood up.

As Po watched Shen leave, he noticed something small slipped out of his sleeve. He was going to call the peacock but he was already gone. The panda picked it up and placed it on a rock while he gets the food ready. Looking through his backpack he took out a package of noodles and counted the vegetables he had, it wasn't much for two but it was okay.

Po spends the last ten minutes setting up the pot, getting clean the water from a nearby pound and tied the pot to two wood polls to hold it up. He spent another five minutes cutting up the vegetables and placing it in a bowl for later. After doing that, he watched and waited for the water to boil. While he listened to the thunders from far away, bored out of mind, Po turned his attention to the thing Shen had dropped.

He picked it up and examined it, it was a scroll rolled up and placed safely inside a tube. Po raised a brow, he had no idea why Shen was carrying it. Then curiosity poked his mind, Po wanted to look but he felt he shouldn't be invading Shen's privacy.

"Maybe it a personal journal," Po thought and he took the scroll out of the tube.

The panda slowly rolled it out and stopped, blinking in puzzlement. He wasn't sure what he was looking at. There were drawings of something and it had an eerie feel to it. Po squinted his eyes, trying to understand the scroll's notes. It was definitely written by Shen, the handwriting was very neat and proper. He took the time to read one of them and spot the words, 'new weapon design'.

Po's eyes grew wide as he realized what he was reading. He looked at the drawings again understanding what they were. These were drawings of weapons like the cannons, except they're more than just one design. Po looked at each one of them and read the small notes on they could do. The more he read the scroll, the more his heart sank and filled with dread. Po didn't want to believe what he was looking at was real. This could not be from the warlord that he was now calling him his friend.

A loud thud startled the bear and he swiftly turned his head to the source of the sound. Shen dropped the pile of wood he was carrying and stared at Po.

Po slowly stood up holding the scroll in hands, he stared back at the shock bird, directly to his ruby eyes.

"Shen…what is this?"


And…we'll end it here. The next part will be up soon and if you guys see any mistakes I miss, you know the drill.