Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen
Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. (4. i didn't mean to: The cub that would be Boss Wolf learns that he must look after Shen, always.)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.
Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.
A/N: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it. Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible. And I tried to individually reply to all your kind reviews at the bottom.
Part of the following is borrowed from the Digimon animated series' season 1. Chapter title references a Batman: The Animated series episode.
i didn't mean to
"I won't be long, dear," the Soothsayer told a young prince; the white peacock already looked mutinous and a little anxious. The old goat had just told him that she had to leave Gongmen City on a task with his father for a few days. His mother would handle affairs in the province's capitol with her husband away, but the Soothsayer conceded that she would be too busy often enough to properly look after Shen in the old goat's stead (doubly so, without Lord Baojia).
"I've asked Shang and Fang to look after you."
The Soothsayer grinned as Shen visibly perked up. Guardsmen Shang and Fang were An's parents.
Still, Shen felt tense when he bid farewell to the old goat and his father at the gate (his mother had already said her good-byes and was back up in the throne room, dealing with the council). This would be the first time the Soothsayer would be gone like this.
The old goat seemed to recognize his discomfort, since she whispered to him as he hugged her tight, "The time will go by quickly. Have fun with An." She kissed his forehead. "Love you, dear."
The Prince still reluctantly let go of the Soothsayer. He looked to his father-the man was so tall-hesitated, then ran forward and hugged his father too before he could convince himself to bow or just nod his head instead. It wasn't like this would be the first time he'd be apart from his father for a while. Even if they lived on the same grounds, even if he still got to play in the throne room while his father worked, it didn't seem like enough, it felt like they still barely saw each other. Father-and mother-they were both just so busy, everyone said they were busy, Shen knew they were busy (knew they didn't want to see him, were ashamed of a weak and doomed looking heir).
Shen felt his father stiffen, and the boy hoped he hadn't been too emotional and un-Princely, but-
Lord Baojia hugged him back with one wing.
"Be good. Study hard," was all he said, and soon Gongmen province's Lord left with his seer advisor.
###
The arrangement had Shen still sleep in the apartment he shared with the Soothsayer, but An's parents took shifts staying there with him at night and in the mornings, cooking him dinner and breakfast. In between that, when he wasn't training with Master Thundering Rhino or with other tutors, he stayed in the wolf guards' barracks. He'd been there before, to play with An, his other kin and pack members, and share sweet breads and other treats with them. And An had gone by his and the Soothsayer's apartment to play too, even when the prince fell ill and had to stay inside.
An and his family and pack, and Kung Fu training and lessons were distracting enough that the old goat's absence did not make the prince's stomach ache.
Yet still, Shen fell ill again-according to all the grown-ups around him. As he told them before, he'd had much worse before; therefore, he really wasn't that sick.
The physician disagreed; he insisted the opposite, that if it wasn't so severe now, it was all the more reason to rest and nip it in the bud before it could get worse. Shen still wasn't sure if he understood that reasoning. The boy was confined to bed all the same.
And so An's parents were to look after their sick prince, and it was Fang's turn-but something had just come up that demanded her attention.
"An," she told her son, calling him away from a game with his cousins. "Your father and his team need me and a couple of others to help round up conspirators against the city. I need you to look after Prince Shen while I'm gone. Is that understood?"
Fang believed she wouldn't be gone long, and recognized the rapport her son had with the prince, and figured the white peacock would be more amiable with An.
The wolf cub nodded, and followed his mother to Shen and the Soothsayer's apartment, where she explained today's set-up.
Shen shot An a funny look. "The Soothsayer will be back tonight," he reminded Fang, turning to her.
She shook her head; "But that is tonight. His majesty still needs someone to guard him during the day."
Shen kept his beak shut until she left, then asked An, "I thought you had a day off from training today? Weren't you gonna play ball with everyone else?"
"Yeah," grumbled An. Then when he noticed Shen still looking downcast, and reflected on what he said and how he said it, the cub stiffened and immediately said, "Hey, how about your dominoes, huh? Those were fun."
The white peacock shook his head. "I'm okay, really. I don't need to be looked after." Shen picked up a scroll by his bed. "You should go out and play."
The younger boy unfurled the scroll and tried to read, and though An recognized the scroll as one filled with some of Shen's favorite stories, his prince still looked downcast.
But the white peacock did look okay, as he insisted. An had seen him get sick worse, too.
"If you're really okay, then you can come out and play with us, too."
Shen stared at An, then tossed his scroll away and began to scramble out of bed. The prince added, "And we'll just have to be sneaky, so no grown-ups will notice and your mom will never know."
The two boys crept out of the apartment, carefully keeping an eye out for other guards and servants and any other adults.
When they met up with An's cousins, the other cubs blinked at him.
"You were just getting Prince Shen?" One of the girls, Jie, asked.
"Um, yeah," An replied. It was a half-true, or full-true now, it just all ended up that way, despite what his mother wanted. Actually-
"But don't tell anyone he's here," An added quickly.
"Why?" Jie asked again, narrowing her eyes, suspicious.
"Well, we sorta told An's mother we'd stay here," Shen began, straightening up and trying to look authoritative (even though he was the smallest among them), "since she's worried about me being too sick, but I'm really okay. And what she-"
"-or dad," added An warily, his old man's reaction should he find out just occurring to him.
"-or anyone else doesn't know won't bother them," Shen finished, feeling they'd put up an ironclad argument.
Jie just shrugged and kicked the ball to An.
They divided into teams and were set on kicking the ball past each of their 'guardians' and into their makeshift goals. Keeping score was an afterthought quickly dismissed. Things were going well, their teams were tied, Shen had the ball-which rolled by An at a drunken angle.
The cub blinked, and glanced back, to where the prince had been passed the ball; "Shen-"
He stopped; the peacock child was on the ground.
Without thinking, An rushed over and picked Shen up, surprising himself with how easy it was; the prince was a light weight. Shen coughed, but his eyes remained closed. An felt the younger boy's impossible heat through his fur. He ran off toward the palace, and so did Jie and the others-they dashed ahead, working as one and focused, as they'd been trained. Jie and the others reached an antelope guard's attention first, and An handed Shen over to the antelope. An followed the guard to the physician.
The other cubs had stayed behind, Jie insisting they'd only crowd the physician.
Once Shen was back inside the apartment with the physician, An waited outside, and it was then he started to think. He slumped down the wall and curled up into a ball, terrified and hoping Shen would be all right.
The cub wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he snapped to attention at the sound of paw prints.
It was his parents, and An stood up, tail and ears lowered.
Immediately his mother slapped him. The cub stumbled, holding his clawed cheek and trying not to whimper or let his eyes water.
"What were you thinking-were you even thinking-you knew he was sick, I told you-!"
Shang laid a calm paw on his wife's shoulder, whispered something in her ear.
The whole family turned at the sound of hooves. The Soothsayer immediately passed them without a glance and entered the apartment.
An closed his eyes, sniffling. That had been worse than the slap.
###
No, this was worse:
"An, you can see Shen now, he's well enough." The Soothsayer's voice held no trace of accusation or hurt.
His ears and tail seemed to be perpetually lowered now; his mother had bandaged the slash on his cheek. But An nodded silently all the same, and trotted into the apartment after the old goat. She gave the boys some privacy, quietly making tea in the kitchen.
An hadn't practiced anything. The cub knew what he wanted to say, but had no coherent plan for wording. Anything he had at all was thrown out the window when Shen spotted him and said, flustered and in a small voice:
"I'm sorry I got you in trouble with your mom and dad, and that I can't kick the ball very well, and get sick all the time…you'll probably never want to play with me again..."
Shen closed his eyes and slumped in bed, then tried to sit up. An immediately went forward and gently helped him up. The wolf cub's mouth was very dry and his chest hurt.
"Tea, children," the Soothsayer said, bringing over a tray.
They all quietly drank.
A/N: Again, a lot of the above references a Digimon episode, "My Sister's Keeper"—a boy takes his sick sister out to play ball, the sister's illness gets worse, and the boy is slapped by his mother (in sheer panic and fear) once his sister's admitted into the hospital, and when she comes out she apologizes for not being able to kick the ball right and is certain her brother will never want to play with her again because of that (though that episode makes it more explicit that the sister almost died). I thought that would fit this fanfic and add another level to Boss Wolf's/An's devotion to Shen (up to a point).
WhySoSerious1992: Yes, the Wolf Boss is pretty cool. It was always the plan to bring him in, since I find his on-screen and off-screen relationship (see the Kung Fu Panda wiki) with Shen interesting.
VulpineSnow: Well, I'm starting out with Shen from birth to when he's very little, and I don't think he'd be cruel at that point. But I hope to develop him so that he believably grows cruel. Ooh, is your AU oneshot about Shen too?
AlienStars: I'm glad you appreciate the detail and heart wrenching moments I try to put in this. Hopefully I can actually complete this fic. All your support and enjoyment helps with that.
Princess Gakoshi: Thanks for your good (and very relevant) points about the implications of Kung Fu training with Shen and everything else. Glad you liked how the last chapter worked out and Boss Wolf's introduction.
samus18: Thank you. Admittedly, I have a few fanfics that have just stopped at one or two chapters, but so far it's not happening to this one, and hopefully I can end it the way it's playing out in my head. Glad you liked Master Thundering Rhino teaching Shen (I really liked adding that to the fic) and young Wolf Boss. I'm glad you think Shen rings true as a child, with his wonder at the world and sheer determination (he's definitely determined as an adult in canon, though the wonder may be a bit trampled, though I think with his mechanical inventiveness he still has to retain some of it, though that's mostly overshadowed by the hate, cruelty, insanity and depression).
Jazzy Jazz: Glad you like 'An,' and that you could picture the scene. I try to picture the scene in my head too.
Comrade: Glad you liked the first meeting between Shen and Wolf Boss/An. And I like long messages/comments/reviews…but weirdly, part of your comment seems missing now? I can't find all of it on my end when I look at the reviews.
Black Raider: Glad you liked the first meeting between Boss Wolf and Shen too, and that you agreed with the irony in 'An' for Boss Wolf. Hmmm, I don't know if I'll continue the story to Shen's side of the story in the movie (I was sort of starting to think of it for a separate fic though—but maybe it would be better as a part of this?). But I definitely want the last chapter to be a hypothetical post-KFP 2 story to conclude the whole fic.
International-Wonderland: Like a lot of Shen's backstory, a lot of the wolves' own backstory was apparently left out of the movie. From Kung Fu Panda wiki: "The Wolf Boss, along with his pack of wolf brothers and sisters, were once guards in Gongmen City's royal palace. The only member of the royal family ever to befriend the wolves was Shen — the frail, albino heir to Gongmen City's throne. Shen fed them, played with them, and treated them like family. It was then that the Wolf Boss swore his allegiance to the young prince.
Boss Wolf's loyalty to Shen went as far as willingly helping the young lord wipe out an innocent farming village of pandas. Boss Wolf took a savage part in the massacre, as when he tried to slay an innocent panda cub. The child's father saved his son's life, whacking Boss Wolf in the face with his hammer and permanently scarring his left eye. Boss Wolf managed to outwit the farmer and he, along with other wolves and Shen gave chase to the farmer's family. It is presumed Boss Wolf may have been the one who killed Po's Mother, if not then Shen. Once the attack was made known to Shen's parents, Boss Wolf, along with his pack, was banished alongside his master."
I'm glad you picked up on the hints of Shen's growing confidence. A sneaky little Shen roaming the palace to see An is such a cute image. Hopefully I'll have Shen's plumage be long-ish soon in the fic; wee Shen's adorable, but I'm getting excited over the prospect of writing him older. Ohman, I have to find that vid, it sounds funny and inspiring. Oh yeah, peacocks totally have that grand plumage to attract a mate; I knew that beforehand, and was really impressed they took that kind of mating technique and turned into a defensive technique and into something even more useful. Like I've read in the art book and other places, Shen uses his great plumage like a matador or someone with a combat fan.
Katiegirl101199: I'm so glad you think it's plausible, I try to make it seem like it could've happened. I'm pleased you like the twist with Thundering Rhino, and that you agree it makes canon more tragic, and that they probably did have a past, given that there was some tension.