Here you go! Chapter 4. It's MUCH longer than the rest, because I was experimenting with putting two POV's in one chapter. It's a newish conceptish to me and I hope I did a good job. Anyway I'll can it and let you read. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Broken and Healing
True to her word, The Soothsayer woke us after a short nap and allowed me to help her stitch my fiancé back together. "There you go." The old goat congratulated as I nipped off the end of the thread and dipped the needle in some hot water to sterilize it. "I'm surprised that you still remember everything I taught you."
"I'll never forget." I replied. "Besides with the upcoming mission I'm going to need to be ready to patch everyone up on the go." We laughed and I helped Shen to his feet.
"Well, Shen does make the perfect practice dummy." She teased. I giggled as his black beak became downturned but a happy twinkle was still in his eyes.
"You would know that better than anyone else." The white peacock countered.
"At least you're accepting my wisdom now." They shared a look; sort of an I'm-letting-go-of-the-past-but-it-will-still-come-back-to-sting-you look. "Well enough out of me, you two need to get ready for tonight. The sun is making its way to the horizon." The old goat turned to leave.
"Wait!" I said and soared over to my closet. "I got you a little something." I pulled out a folded silk robe of many different colors. On the sleeves it had the symbol of yin and yang, and the rest of it was decorated with designs of plants and flowers.
"I couldn't possibly accept this!" She said in awe.
"Of course you can. You've been through so much and you deserve a nice robe for tonight." I smiled as she took it and ran her hoof over the soft silk.
"This will certainly be one of the nicest robes I've ever owned. Thank you Lien-Hua."
"No thanks needed." I replied and wrapped my wing around Shen's snowy white shoulders. "We'll meet you in the garden to see what it looks like before the festival." With a last nod she left us to get changed.
"You are incredible." My fiancé told me and pecked my cheek.
"Aw nonsense. I just like to make people happy."
"And that's why I love you." Both of my wings were now folded in Shen's and his eyes were bright and excited.
"What are you all worked up about?" I teased.
"I got you a present." He led me over to his closet and walked inside. "Close your eyes." He called through the ruffling of fabric. I did and smiled. Sometimes he was such a goof, but I loved him for it. I heard his talons click on the floor as he turned around and came back out. "Ok, you can open your eyes now."
Slowly I opened my bright blue eyes and saw Shen proudly holding a gorgeous silk robe. It was a menagerie of light blue, lilac purple and cherry blossom pink. My old seal was woven into these colors and on the back was a lotus in the rising sun embroidered in silver thread. The trim was silver and had winding ivy embroidered into it in a soft green thread. "Shen!" I gasped, "This isn't just beautiful; this is the most incredible bit of weaver's work I've ever seen! Where on earth did you find this?" He tried to hand it to me but I just threw my wings around his neck and kissed him full on the beak.
"I hoped you would like it." Shen said a bit shocked at my reaction.
"This would have to be the most incredible thing I've ever been given." Then I smiled a bit devilishly. "Except your love of course."
"Of course." The peacock smirked.
"I feel horrible now that I didn't get you anything!"
"Oh nonsense. Don't work yourself up over something that miniscule." He waved a wing. "All I want is to get to call you my wife, and rule the province with you for the remainder of my days."
"Aw. You're so wonderful." I kissed him again.
"Please, go on." Shen teased as we walked behind our different shades to change. I just rolled my eyes.
"Once a prince, always a prince." I scoffed.
"What? A peacock can't enjoy a few compliments from the love of his life?" The rest of the time we just bantered back and forth telling each other how wonderful we are; we're peacocks ok? We like a bit of a confidence booster.
Then there was a knock at the door. I was seated at my vanity working on a touch up, and Shen was nestled in our nest with his silver robes flowing around him. "Come in." We chimed. A little antelope messenger stepped in and bowed to us.
"You highness', Master's Crane, Mantis, and Tigress have returned. They wish to speak to you in private." There was no stutter in his tone, which many of the messengers were just overcoming since Lord Shen's cruel reign.
"Thank you, son. We'll meet them. Here." Shen placed a few gold coins in the little deer's hoof. "Enjoy the festival."
"Thank you my prince." He bowed again and scampered back down to the Great Hall.
"You're learning well." I teased him after tucking my comb in the feathers on the back of my head. It had a neatly carved wooden lotus on it and my father had given it to me, just before he was killed.
"I have a good teacher." I smiled and walked over to the nest. I offered my wing and together we walked over to the balcony.
"I'll need to show them the secret entrance to their room, come on." I soared over the railing and down to the east side of the fifth floor, Shen right on my tail feathers. We landed gracefully, fanning our tails to mark our arrival.
"Lien, there you are!" Tigress said impatiently. I could tell by the looks on my friends faces that they had news; I just wasn't sure if it was good or bad yet.
"We made it to the camp and…" Crane spoke, but Shen cut him off.
"It's not safe to talk in the open like this. Follow me." He then jumped up and kicked the hidden tile. Quickly we filed into the other room and they sat on the cushions.
"This is super cool!" Mantis said in awe.
"Thank you." I beamed. "It's completely secret and all for you guys."
"Sweet." Crane had settled closest to me, with Shen on my right wing, Tigress across from me, and Mantis perched on a vase.
"So what did you find?"
"We made it to the camp, and it was empty." Mantis told us.
"What? Are you sure it was the same camp?" Shen asked. There was no mind in all of China that could compare with Shen when it came to such matters; he was as sharp as one of his own throwing blades.
"One hundred percent. We even found Po's tracks where we had snuck by. Everything was gone." Crane pressed.
"Hmm." Shen pondered.
"Then we began to look through the tents, and store houses, to see if there were any clues." Mantis put in.
"That's where it gets strange." Tigress spoke up. "All of their provisions were there. Knives, food, clothing, canteens for water, it was all stacked up in store houses. It looked like they just disappeared into thin air."
Now it was my turn to speak, "Did you see any signs of Genji or Bo-Chen?"
"We did find these." Crane took off his hat and handed me a pair of golden feathers.
"These are Genji's. Those wolves have the only family I have left." My eyes darkened, and I could feel Shen recoil just a bit. "How dare they?" I just couldn't take it anymore. I had been civil about it, but no more. "They will pay for this! If any harm comes to my brother and sister, the same harm will come to them. This is as far as I can take it! I will not see the last of my family die!" Without a second thought I jumped up and zoomed out the window and over the city. "They'd better hope I don't catch up to them."
"Lien! Wait! You can't…" I called after her, but she was already halfway across the city. I sighed. "Was she always like this at the Palace?" I turned to her friends and they were all open mouthed staring at where Lien had disappeared.
"Truthfully no." Shifu sighed. "Lien was always the calm one. Even when Po showed up and the rest of us were horrible to him, she accepted him like he was one of the family. She's never been one to snap."
"She's been through a lot, and she never did get to see her mother before she passed over." Crane added.
"And she hasn't seen Bo-Chen or Genji-Feng since she was banished. That would be twenty-three years without her family." Monkey said.
"Well we can't just let her go out there and track these wolves down." Tigress stood. "We have to stop her and make her try and enjoy tonight. We'll leave first thing in the morning to search." She confirmed.
"Good idea." I agreed. She actually nodded at me, which made me smile a small smile.
"Crane, Shen; you try and catch her by air. The rest of us will see if we can catch up to her by other means." Shifu instructed and we moved towards the balcony.
"I'll stay here in case she comes back." Po offered.
"Thank you Po." I said and turned to Crane. "Well, here goes nothing!" We shared a nod and rocketed off the balcony in the dying sunlight.
For a few minutes we flew in silence, just focusing on speed, but after a while I looked over at the spindle legged bird. His eyes were narrowed and I could see wheels turning in his head. "What are you thinking, my friend?" I called over the rush of the wind we created. When he didn't respond I drifted closer. "Master Crane?"
"Oh! Sorry." He shook his head. "What did you say?"
"I was just wondering what's going through your mind. You seem incredibly focused for a bit of fast flying." I chuckled.
"I worry about Lien sometimes. She deserves to just be free of all of the things that have plagued her for so long." He looked down at the city that was passing in a blur below us. I could see little flashes of the other masters keeping good pace with us as well.
"I agree." I still feel like the scum of the earth for what I did to that poor peahen for those years I was Lord Shen. Most of her problems started with me and I hated that fact.
"You can't blame yourself though, Shen." The crane must have learned to read minds somewhere in his life. He was staring at me with a kind smile on his beak. "It's not your fault."
"Ah, but it is." My brow furrowed and my beak turned down. "Everything is my fault."
"I'm sure Lien has told you this many times, my friend, but that includes the good things. Sure you did some horrible things in the past, but you can't look back at them anymore. Unless you want the evil to return. But look at what you've done since you let that go!" He spread his white and navy blue wings wider, indicating the city. "You've rebuilt your city, and regained the trust of your people. And you've got us behind you too."
"Thank you, Master Crane. You are a good friend." We smiled and realized that we were getting closer to Lien and we were about three or four miles out of the city.
"Lien! Lien-Hua! Stop!" We called, but she didn't even pause. Crane caught a quick updraft and I continued on my path parallel to the ground. I watched the Kung Fu master circle higher and higher, and catch more speed. When checking our distance, I realized he would hit the peahen from above, and I would get her from behind. She would have no choice but to stop.
At that very instant, Lien clapped her wings to her side and dove into a thicket of bamboo. I sighed and shook my head. "Lien would you just stop?" I screamed.
"They have my family Shen! I'm not letting them get away!" She threw the words over her shoulder. I looked skyward and saw Crane going to cut off her escape. I had to keep her focused on me.
"Lien, come back to the palace and we'll figure out a plan. You can't just leave right now; you have no supplies, no weapons, no backup. Just stop." She refused. I followed her into the thick green stalks and almost caught her, but she twisted to the side and weaved through some incredibly tight spaces and I had to follow on a tad different path.
Just when I lost sight of her pretty pink feathers I heard the sound of a scuffle and, "Crane get off me!"
"Sorry Lien. I'm under orders." He joked. I was starting to like these masters more and more every minute.
"From who? I'm the queen-to-be! Get off!" She hissed as I reached the end of the bamboo, and saw her pinned to the ground by Master Crane.
"By me." I said deeply and landed in front of her.
"Shen? You know how much my family means to me! Let me catch the wolves!" Her voice cracked and I could see the adrenaline was wearing off. "I will not lose them too." Now Lien realized that she wasn't going anywhere tonight. Everyone else caught up to us and were able to calm their panting quickly.
"What was that Lien?" Shifu stepped in immediately and spoke harshly. "When did Ooguay or I ever teach you to lose your mind like that?" Crane still had her pinned and Shifu motioned for him to let her go. She jumped up, ran into my wings, and buried her face in my chest. She was sobbing uncontrollably and I just stroked the back of her head and neck to try and calm her down.
"I'm sorry, Shifu. I'm so sorry." She blubbered through the tears. "You never taught me to do that. You taught me to keep my head and pay attention to what's happening around me." My heart almost broke for her. I could tell she was hurting, and I wasn't sure what to do to help her.
"That's right." Shifu's voice was still harsh, but it had a hint of a fatherly undertone in it. "Now, we're going to go back to the palace, enjoy the festival, with all of its fireworks and the gloriousness of the new Tower of Sacred Flame, and wake up in the morning and figure out a plan of action. Sound good?" She sniffled and nodded.
"There's my girl!" I crooned and kissed her cheek. She smiled up at me with adoration in her eyes. "Now let's get back to the city."
"Alright." She mumbled and we took to the air.
"And I thought I could fly fast!" Crane teased and came up on her left side.
"I could always fly circles around you!" Lien called cheering up.
"Oh yea right!" The master countered and took off.
"Race you!" She called to both of us and we rocketed off through the air with similes on our faces.