Author Note: Geez, this chapter took waaaay too long to finish! Hopefully y'all enjoy it though, and I'll try not to take so long with the next part. XD
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The wind blew cold on a winter's evening, and the chill weather held Gongmen City in its grasp. Gone was the freshness of winter's beginning, and it was well into the new year so there were no glittering holidays left to brighten up the dark. It was at the point in the season where winter settled with a sense of dreary permanence and spring seemed much too far away.
And this evening was looking to be an especially bleak one indeed if the grim storm clouds gathering overhead were any indication.
In the center of Gongmen City, the Tower of the Sacred Flame was attempting to live up to its moniker. On the various levels of the huge ten-story palace, lanterns and candles burned as servants and officials wrapped up the day's work. The glow of the lights turned the Tower into a sort of beacon in the darkening sky.
Below in the palace's courtyard compound, several of the smaller structures were illuminated as well. One of the buildings in particular was often lit around this time and would remain so until late into the night. The building in question was Prince Shen's laboratory.
As was his growing preference, Shen had just finished a modest supper in his workshop and was now back to tinkering with his various formulas and chemicals. His nanny Lan—also the court soothsayer—had initially been against Shen spending so much of his free time with his experiments, but the prince had so tenaciously clung to his work that eventually Lan had given up trying to pry him away. This suited Shen just fine.
While setting out bowls and containers of powders, Shen flipped through a sheaf of his notes. Actually, they were a copy that his wolf friend Lin had gone over. Lin was a guard, but he had a knack for numbers, and after having witnessed many of Shen's experiments, the wolf could occasionally offer a useful insight of his own.
Lin and Shen had been friends for much of their young lives. The wolf was the closest companion Shen had after his nanny—though the prince had also grown attached to his kung fu teacher, Master Flying Rhino. And really that was it.
Shen's parents weren't even close to making that short list. Royal blood was just about the only thing they had in common—they otherwise might as well have been a million countries away. Even their mutual commitments to the fireworks seemed to hardly matter. Queen Nuo created beautiful fireworks as delicate looking as silk threads and arguably some of the most intricate in history, and King Jiang unfailingly designed fireworks of such unique colors and vibrancy.
And yet it was as if the King and Queen cared little for Shen's own work, even though it seemed imminent that he would succeed them someday. Despite his sickly childhood, the white peacock had nonetheless survived to see his eighteenth birthday after all.
Shen sighed as he touched the stack of his notes. Before he'd given them to Lin, the young prince had sent the copies to his parents two days ago. The papers had returned within the hour bearing only a simple notice: "As the heir to Gongmen's throne, it is good that you continue your research, but you should remain mindful that fireworks are best served for festivities and not militaristic pursuits." That was it and nothing further. Shen doubted his parents had even read any of the pages beyond the cover sheet's summary. Too busy presumably.
In his anger, Shen had yelled at the rabbit servant who brought the message, but it hadn't made the prince feel any better. It wasn't the servant's fault that his parents didn't care.
Lin had been with him at the time, and as Shen had turned away and tried to pretend that he wasn't hurt, the wolf had snatched up the notes. If Shen desired a second opinion, Lin had stated, then he would read over the peacock's work. And that he had—quite thoroughly too as the copious scribbles in the margins suggested.
Although it wasn't anywhere near the same as having another chemist check his hypotheses, Shen had been touched by Lin's effort—especially considering the fact that his friend had plenty of responsibilities of his own. However, the King and Queen's dismissal still stung. And such unfairness! Did they not want Gongmen City to grow even greater than it already was? With new weapons technology, they could control the entire eastern coast—maybe even much of China. But no. Instead of praise for his forward-thinking, Shen was given only curt disapproval.
Some days it felt like they disapproved of everything their son tried to accomplish. As he'd grown older, the peacock prince had tried to affect a cool front, tried to act as if his mother and father's dismissal did not phase him.
But still he strove for their recognition. Shen carried out his experiments because he enjoyed them, but even now there was always that shadow of inadequacy, of not being good enough. Really, nothing had changed.
And so it was in such a melancholy mood that Shen went about his calculations tonight, and his efforts were half-hearted at best. If only his parents would just take a moment to look at his findings, then they would understand the true greatness that fireworks could offer. They had the potential to be so much more than mere entertainment. Shen was sure he could show his parents too if only they would pay attention to him long enough...
"Enough of this!" Shen shouted to no one in particular. "Enough... I will not mope here like a scolded child," he continued, grumbling under his breath. Quickly, the prince began reaching for plans and notes. No more messengers, he would see his parents personally. Now—right now before his courage failed him. They shouldn't have any appointments at this hour, and if they tried to brush him aside as was their usual tactic, then Shen would be insistent and not take no for an answer.
It was frustrating how they never took him seriously, how they still considered him weak. With his new firework designs, Shen would show his parents just how powerful he could be.
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Outside there was already a blanket of snow upon the ground and from overhead a sputtering of fresh snowflakes had begun to fall.
For safety's sake, the peafowls' respective workshops were located away from the Tower of the Sacred Flame and most of the other structures in the enclosed courtyard. Considering the volatile nature of the chemicals and powders used to manufacture the fireworks, it had long since been deemed for the best to build the stone-walled laboratories away from any more flammable structures.
And so to get to his parents' throne room where they would most likely still be, Shen had to first traipse across the palace grounds amidst the gathering snow. Carefully, he tucked his drawings into his robe to shield them from any errant snowflakes. Winter felt especially cold this year, and Shen shivered beneath his grey silk robe. His charcoal-hued cloak didn't block nearly all of the wind chill either.
The Tower was pleasantly warmer at least, and Shen sighed as he eased back the hood on his cloak. The prince fluffed his tail feathers briefly to shake the water from them before he began his ascent up the Tower's many staircases. While the sheer number of steps was often daunting to visitors, Shen had grown accustomed to walking at least some amount of them daily and no longer grew winded from the effort. Indeed, this evening he was rather grateful for their presence. It gave him a chance to collect himself and practice what he would say to his parents.
Master Flying Rhino and Soothsayer Lan were right: if he was reasonable and did not lose his temper, his parents would understand. Shen would show them as many diagrams as they wanted. Even though the prince had yet to conduct field tests, he had the utmost faith in his calculations.
By the time Shen reached the throne room, he had gotten his agitation rather well under control, and as the peacock neared the great reception hall's door, the murmur of multiple voices greeted his ears. There were his mother and father, yes, and also the Soothsayer. Good. Shen could address them all at once. After his parents, his nanny had been the loudest voice in opposition to his experiments. Too dangerous, she said, that fireworks' best purpose was a source of celebration and beauty, that Shen was tampering with things best not meddled with.
Shen would show her too.
The prince raised his wing to knock on the main entrance, but something about the low—almost worried—tones of the voices stopped him. Shen couldn't quite say why he did it, but instead of announcing his presence, Shen turned and ducked down a side hall that ran parallel to the throne room. At the end was a little doorway—meant for servants to enter and leave discreetly—and Shen opened the door as quietly as he was able, slipping softly into the elaborate main hall.
Rich curtains of imperial purple draped the perimeter of the room, hanging in between the columns and casting shadows there. In his charcoal-colored cloak, even Shen could go unnoticed amongst the gloom. The rest of the huge room glowed dim amber from lanterns hung around the throne. But oddly, that was the only light. This must be an informal meeting.
In the room's center, Shen's parents stood in a sad little huddle, and kneeling on the ground before them was Lan with her scrying bowl. A fortune-telling then? The prince watched with widening eyes as Lan dropped a piece of Shen's own robe into the bowl and then a couple handfuls of brightly colored powders.
"I see darkness..." Lan intoned, eyes rolling a little as her strange gift took hold of her. The bowl shifted rhythmically in her grasp as she continued. "I see sorrow...families grief stricken and torn apart..."
The contents in the bowl flared up, and Shen watched in fearful amazement as smoke fanned out into the glorious plumage of a white peacock. But in the next instant, the silhouette was consumed by a spinning yin-yang.
"If Prince Shen continues on his current path...he will be defeated by a warrior of black and white..."
And that was the end of Lan's prediction. She came back to herself, looking very worn and older than usual. As the throne room hung in eerie stillness, a horrified Prince Shen felt a roaring in his ears like an explosion.
He would be killed? A warrior who was black and white...? The image of a panda slowly came to mind; Shen had seen a couple of them in his short life. Those pandas had been big though they'd seemed harmless enough, but still they were bears. That was something stronger than most animals—and much stronger then a peacock. Surely such a panda warrior would be formidable indeed. Shen shivered fearfully at the thought, feeling very small and fragile all of a sudden and hating himself for it.
In the throne room's center, the King was the first to speak. "Is this...our fault?" Jiang asked, an unusual note of hesitation in his voice. His wife hushed him gently though.
"There is some blame on us f-for our inattention, that is certain, but it's not too late, surely?" She turned hopeful eyes toward the Soothsayer. "These are images of what might be, yes? Not what will be?"
"Not yet, but this storm is coming quickly, my Lady," Lan cautioned softly.
Jiang stood a little straighter, wrapping a wing around his queen and tucking her close. "Then there is still time. I admit I have often felt like I don't understand that boy, not even a little, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him..."
"We cannot let this happen," Queen Nuo added solemnly. "We...we have been absent from his life too long, kept our distance perhaps too much."
"Perhaps?" Lan questioned pointedly, and Shen was grimly satisfied to note the whiff of accusation in her voice.
The King and Queen wilted under the goat's hard gaze. "We will alter this future," Jiang stated firmly. "We have ignored warning signs and made excuses...but no longer. Prince Shen is too precious for us to abandon him to such a fate."
There had already been signs of a panda rebellion, and his parents had not countered them...? That was not a pleasant thought. And yet through the chill of fear, Shen felt his heart swell with a tiny flicker of warmth. His father said he was precious to them. His parents loved him... When was the last time the prince had felt like he was loved by them? Unsurprisingly, he couldn't remember. Shen's first instinct was to quit his hiding place and go embrace his parents, to tell them he loved them too, but just barely he stopped himself from moving.
No, this was not the way. True, it would be a sweet reunion to go to his family now and end this estrangement, but that was not the way. If he went to his parents now, they would insist on handling the prophecy's dark threats for him. They would have the best of intentions, but the outcome would still be Shen hiding behind his parents.
Shen wanted to fight his own battles, to prove that he was someone strong that his parents could be proud of.
Mother, Father... I'll be back soon, Shen thought. The two older peafowl didn't see it of course, but from the shadows, Shen looked at them with the tenderest of smiles. Wings tips shaking a little, the prince stealthily snuck out of the throne room.
Eschewing the stairs, Shen found the nearest window and cleared the distance from the Tower's top to the ground in a single steady glide. Shen would have to move rapidly if he wanted to mobilize and have everything together before his parents came to find him. He was frightened, yes, but he could do this. The prince would take care of the panda threat on his own.
Well...not entirely on his own. Shen would lead this expedition—his first—by himself, but he would still need soldiers to lead. He couldn't ask just anyone though. The antelope guards and Master Flying Rhino would want to consult with the King and Queen first before taking any action. Shen needed soldiers who would take his orders without second-guessing.
With quick steps and an even more quickly beating heart, Shen raced towards the palace barracks where he was sure he would find his wolf friend, Lin.
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tbc...