Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen
Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 12. the first half: In which a young Shen experiments.
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: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope you enjoy the new chapter!
I need to replace 'Emperor' with 'King' in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor or Empress of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.
After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"—a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.
the first half
Shen rushed after his parents.
His question was in an equal rush: "Mother, Father, may I please spar with you later?"
They were on their way to another meeting, but maybe he could take advantage of their busy schedule to easily secure the answer he wanted.
"We shall consider it, Shen," his mother answered, successfully ruining his strategy.
Shen let himself childishly pout a little at his parents' backs as they left.
###
"So, how'd it go?"
"Not much difference," Shen said as he passed the cookies to An, who then passed them on to Jie.
The white peacock and the two wolves sat on the palace roof, at the moment paying some attention to the dragon costume practice its run around the city again.
"So they said no?" Jie asked.
"Mother said they'd think about it," Shen mumbled before taking a bite out of his cookie.
"So you got a 'maybe,' that's something," An said through a mouthful of cookie, despite the disgusted noise Jie made.
"Don't know how our Lord and Lady can be that overprotective while being so dist—
er, busy all the time, but they manage it," Jie said, and immediately An shot her a glare. The girl gave a helpless shrug.
An turned on his back on her, looking to the young prince now biting angrily into his cookie.
"They probably just figure you get enough with Masters Thundering Rhino, Ox and Croc, y'know? Not to mention you and me going at it," An said, playfully punching the younger boy in the shoulder.
Shen's eyes flashed, yet he ignored the gentle fist. He just swallowed the last of his cookie and mumbled, "Nana says they have a private hall to spar in because they want some time for themselves."
An and Jie stared at each other. Then An gripped his head as if it suddenly ached. "Stupid instant mental image!"
"You're such a perv," Jie said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm a visual thinker! My brain just goes straight for the freakin' pictures!" An growled, flushing.
Shen was staring at the two wolves now, with the distinct impression that something was flying over his head, not unlike some conversations with Ox and Croc.
"Dragon's gone," murmured Jie, and both boys turned, catching the dragon costume's tail disappear behind a building.
Jie stood up, stretching with a yawn. "I'm heading back to the barracks."
"Gonna be in my lab," Shen said, brushing the crumbs off his robes as he got up.
"Mind if I watch?" An asked. The wolf boy would sometimes watch the prince work.
"Sure, I'm gonna test out this new formula I've been working on!"
Shen was still eagerly telling An about his experiments when they reached the hall. Jie smirked as she watched the boys go. Shen's face was animated, with An giving the occasional nod, though looking a bit baffled.
###
An found that Shen wasn't always difficult to understand when he went on about science. When An got him to slow down, the younger boy could explain and give background information, and otherwise share his ideas quite clearly. But just as his developing fighting style favored speed, so did Shen's mouth and mind simply run fast, forgetting that An didn't always know all the terms or other scientists' theories.
And sometimes An just let him run with it, like now. The wolf sat cross-legged on a low shelf while Shen kept happily talking as he dashed about getting his supplies and formula records. The older boy still watched the prince with interest, though his mind was lost. Shen was just a ball of frenetic energy that was impossible not to watch, even when all comprehension of his talk had been lost.
Finally the young peacock began to settle down once everything was arranged and he began to work in silence.
The wolf found this even interesting for a time, as Shen became the perfect picture of focus when in the lab. Eventually An would leave, sometimes quietly or with a small good-bye, the prince always became so absorbed in his work. Other times An tried to drag him out when it got too late, or when it was time to eat. It would probably be the former tonight, dinner had already been consumed before he and the prince and Jie had shared dessert on a roof tier.
###
Shen carefully measured, then poured...
He had expected an explosion, he was experimenting with fireworks after all.
But this particular explosion far exceeded the size he calculated.
The prince shouted as the fire caught his foot.
His mind became a jumbled mess of nerves shrieking in agony, indistinct as he smelled his own talon burn. Yet his first semi-coherent thought was that he had one foot left that wasn't on fire. He had to keep it that way.
Instinctively, Shen raised his intact talon, trying to distance it from the flames. His burning talon trembled, supporting the weight of his body alone for a few seconds before finally falling. Shen had enough presence of mind to make his burning leg fall flat on the ground and not under his body, not pinned as if truly sitting.
But not enough presence of mind to realize the problem in letting his wings flap from sheer panic and pain.
An had that presence of mind, grabbing the prince from under his wings, stopping them from falling down and blowing a full gust of wind.
"Don't, you'll feed the fire, it likes air!"
The prince's eyes were starting to feel very wet. Shen tried not to whimper or scream or shout. He instead croaked to An, "There's a jug of water over there."
The peacock bit his sleeve to keep from giving into the screams that wanted to escape, while An dashed for the jug he had pointed out. The older wolf was gone and back in half a second, unplugging the jug and pouring it all over Shen's burning talon.
Shen's scream was stifled by fabric as the water hissed over the dying fire.
Sleeve still caught in his beak, Shen pulled, ripping off a piece and handing it to An, who quickly wrapped it around the damp, burnt talon. Shen ripped off another piece of fabric for An to cover the whole wounded area.
An retained his speed, swiftly picking Shen up and dashing out of the lab. Immediately outside he gave a piercing howl, and soon one of his older cousins came and carried the white peacock to the infirmary.
###
"There will be a little bit of scarring, but your talon should be fine."
"It won't have to be cut off?"
The Soothsayer ran a hoof over Shen's forehead, shaking her head. The boy felt too warm.
"No, it won't. Where did you learn about amputation?"
"An tells me stuff, said he heard it happen to his great great uncle."
The old goat nodded distractedly as she spotted the head physician return.
She made Shen drink the nutrient-enriched tea no matter the faces he made, then listened to the antelope whisper in her ear.
Her eyes narrowed as the boy gagged when the word 'infection' left the physician's lips a little too loudly.
###
When Shen's fever broke and his coherency returned, the Soothsayer asked him again how he felt.
"Better."
"Good." The Soothsayer's concerned brow shifted into a glare. "What did I tell you about working in the lab before?"
"That I had to be careful," Shen said in a small voice, wishing he could look away from his nanny. He couldn't remember her looking this angry with him.
"What happened?" The old goat's voice hardened even further.
Shen cringed. "I—I think I only mis—miscalculated the formula. I did everything else right, measurements weren't wrong—"
"'Only?'"
The Soothsayer lifted the cover off his tightly bandaged talon. "You not only endangered yourself, but An as well, thank the gods he sufferend no harm." Shen flinched at the thought of getting his friend hurt.
The boy fought down the urge to dive under the covers as the Soothsayer snapped out each sentence: "You wounded yourself. That wound was infected. You've been unconscious and suffering from a fever for three days. That wound has scarred over. And a miscalculation did all this?"
"I—y-yes? It's the only—"
Shen remembered the word seemed to trigger his nanny's ire.
"—er, most likely explanation."
"'Mostly likely—?'" The old goat began to parrot angrily again, then seemed to choke back her temper. She pursed her lips and turned her head to the side, pinching the bridge of her snout in between her eyes. But she whirled back again with a stomp of her cane and her voice rising. "Do you have any idea how much worse it could've been?"
The young peacock swallowed hard. "I—I'm sorry Nana, I didn't mean to anger you—"
He jumped in the bed when the Soothsayer stomped her cane again. "That is not the point, you foolish boy! Have you not been listening? You could've suffered more severe injury, you could've lost your foot or your life—if An hadn't been there to help you—!"
"N-no, no, I do know Nana, really—"
Shen instinctively reached for the old goat's hoof. He froze when she removed her hoof before he could reach it. The boy could not remember his nanny ever withdrawing from him like that in any way, like his parents...
The prince swallowed hard.
The Soothsayer now gripped her cane with both hooves, still glaring, though not directly at her charge anymore. She looked down, her jaw clenched, her chest rising up and down heavily.
Shen's wing finally lowered, and he blinked rapidly at his nanny.
Though his chest had suddenly become very tight and made it hard to breathe, he still managed to quietly say, "I really am sorry I made you angry, Nana. I didn't mean to...I don't mean to do a l-lot of things, but I keep messing up badly..."
The Soothsayer stiffened. She then put her cane down and took Shen's wing, her other arm reaching up and cradling his head as she bent over the boy, gently kissing his forehead.
"I was afraid for you, dear." She ruffled his crest feathers, and the peacock child giggled, drawing a smile from her lips. "Which admitteldy makes me testy as well."
"I'll be more careful, Nana; I promise."
"Yes, you will." She kissed his forehead again, then leaned back. "Still, no lab for a month after your'e fully recovered."
Shen's "yes ma'm" was very docile.
###
The prince yawned, sleepily opening his eyes. He perked up when he realized it was his mother at his bedside.
"Hi Mama," he said in a small, pleased voice.
"Hello, Shen. How did you sleep?"
"No bad dreams." The prince looked around. "Where's father?"
"Busy. He was here before, while you were sleeping. How do you feel?"
"Great."
"Hmmm," went his mother, and Shen wondered if she'd seen through his half-lie. As he told Nana, he was feeling better, not exactly great...
Lady Fen did regard Shen thoughtfully, almost making him squirm.
"I promise to be more careful in the lab," he finally said, sharing the promise to Nana with his mother, and by extension his father.
Fen's look turned harder. But all she said was, "About what you asked earlier, the answer is 'no.'"
Shen clutched his blanket, almost opened his beak to protest—then he saw her eyes fall on his talon all wrapped up in bandages. His chest twisted painfully.
Of course, he burned his own foot, how well could such a foolish weakling handle a bout? Shen dared not say it, it was bad enough he was thinking it, and he really didn't want mother to confirm it aloud. ("But you should not make mistakes that you can avoid," his father's voice echoed in his head.)
"But you may observe, sometimes."
Shen's chest lightened, and he smiled.
###
The prince panted, struggling to hold his weight on his bandaged talon. He swore when he buckled down again.
His eyes widened when he recalled that Nana and Master Thundering Rhino were in the room overseeing his physical recovery, along with An.
Apprehensively, he turned back to look at them. The Soothsayer looked half-grave, half-amused, while Thundering Rhino looked fully amused. An looked horrified, frantically glancing at the two adults in the room.
Shen swallowed, then tried to get up again. He felt the kung fu warrior's hoof on his shoulder stop him.
"That's enough for your first day."
Thundering Rhino gestured to An. At first the wolf flinched, for a moment terrified the rhino had dropped his amusement and would rain down righteous fury on him for corrupting the prince's language. He shook himself when he realized that the master just wanted Shen's staff, and An threw it to him.
Thundering Rhino caught the staff, and offered it to Shen.
The prince blinked at it, then recoiled. "No, I want to keep going—"
His master shook his head. "You've done well, now you need your rest—"
"I don't need a cane!" Shen snarled, tail feathers flaring. They wilted when he heard the soft thump of the Soothsayer's own cane.
"Yours will have even more use than mine," the old goat said, her smile lopsided. "You've had quite a lot of practice striking and blocking with it already."
"...You've whacked a lot of people with yours, too," Shen mumbled. He then accepted the staff and leaned on it as he walked. The boy had to admit, it helped.
Still, he hoped his parents never saw him with it.
###
"Scars are cool," An asserted to Shen, while he waited with the prince and Jie for the Soothsayer to return with a lunch she promised them.
The young peacock lay exhausted on his back, staring at the courtyard sky through half-lidded eyes. His scarred foot was far out of sight, and throbbing from all the retraining he forced it through.
"Don't you mean battle scars?" Shen grumbled.
An's ears flattened. "Um—"
"Because I didn't get it in a fight with an assassin, I burned myself like a weak idiot—"
"Pfft, like you'd be the first," Jie scoffed, waving a paw airily around.
The prince glanced at the wolf girl, while An blinked at her.
"Who else burned themself?" Shen asked in a voice attempting to be imperial and only slightly curious (though truthfully he was a 'mostly').
"Well, there wasn't really any fire involved, but I think the principle's the same." Jie crouched closer toward the boys conspiratorially.
Shen forced himself to sit up. He glared at An when he tried to help him, immediately making the older boy back up with a placating paw.
"Now, you've heard of the Wu Sisters, right?"
"Duh."
"Of course. Wait, they burned themselves-uh, metaphorically?"
"One of them did, any way." Jie tilted her head toward Shen.
"My prince, did you know your parents fought them?"
Shen perked up, surprised.
"Really?"
"That's what I've heard."
"Huh," An said, leaning toward Jie more.
"Yeah, so the story goes, when Lord Baojia was young and betrothed to Lady Fen, one of the places they would get together was in her hometown, Jinzhou, where the eldest Wu Sister, Su, had been imprisoned by Lady Fen's father, Xuan—"
Shen stared, and An said, "Wait, what? Shen's grandfather fought the Wu Sisters too?"
"He and his soldiers fought only Su," the girl explained with a roll of her eyes. "Xuan had planned to divide the sisters when they started causing trouble in his territory, but only ever found and captured Su. Afterward it was decided she'd be remain in his jurisdiction; he was like head of the militia or something in Jinzhou."
"Anyway, Lord Baojia and Lady Fen met Masters Storming Ox and Croc—"
"Before they were masters," added An.
"Before they were masters," Jie grit out, shooting the wolf boy a glare. "They met while street fighting."
"My parents watched?"
"No, they participated."
The prince stared at Jie.
"They were street fighting?" Shen blinked. "My parents? Street fighting?"
"It's what I heard."
Shen slowly shook his head. "That...doesn't sound like them." Though he did inwardly admit he didn't know everything about them. And they were accomplished warriors. They still sparred.
Jie rolled her eyes again. "Not now—but back then, they were teenagers, things were different."
"Rebellious royals and nobles, huh?" An said with a lopsided smirk.
The peacock thoughtfully said, "Master Thundering Rhino was a street fighter, too, when he was younger..."
"So that's true?" An asked. "Because I heard when Storming Ox, Croc and Thundering Rhino beat the Wu Sisters, they all met street fighting and they were like the same age, and that story was cool, but it was confusing too 'cause Thundering Rhino's way older than Croc and Ox—and Oogway was in it, is Oogway in this one, Jie—?"
"You're babbling, An," the girl dryly said. She then shook her head. "And no, Grand Master Oogway isn't in this version of the story."
"Is this version true?" Shen asked, and Jie turned back to him, shrugging.
"I think it is, my aunt told it to me and she was old enough to actively serve in the guard at the time. Could always ask your parents or the Kung Fu council later...and I could just stop here, what with all these interruptions—"
"No, go on! Besides, you haven't even made your point yet."
An blinked at Shen. "There was a point?"
"Something about the Wu Sisters burning themselves without fire—"
"Does lava not count as fire—?"
"What?"
"The Wu Sisters' fortress was in Hubei volcano."
"I heard they just lived in some mountain that had blizzards all the time—"
"Do you guys want to tell the story?" Jie finally snapped at the boys. They both stopped and mumbled "sorry."
After waiting a few seconds to make sure they would stay quiet, Jie opened her mouth—then shut it, glaring. "Where was I?" She grit out.
An gulped, and Shen said, "Um, everyone was street fighting?"
"Right, everyone was street fighting—it was Prince Baojia and Lady Fen versus Storming Ox and Croc in a two-on-two bout—"
"Wait, why was Croc—?"
"With all due respect, my prince, that will be answered later in the story. Probably all your questions will be answered in the story. So, if you please?"
"...Sorry."
An coughed. "Tyrannical narrator." He coughed again.
The wolf girl only looked to Shen. "Good. Now, Master Thundering Rhino—a master, then—"
Jie snarled warningly at An, whose ears wilted at her stare.
"—had arrived in Jinzhou looking for the prince, who left Gongmen without warning. No reason for that other than Prince Baojia being careless and lusting for his betrothed—"
The girl looked amused, but her fellow junior guardsman just looked aghast at her.
"Their kid is right here, Jie!" An barked, gesturing to Shen who was blushing red and looked like he wanted to sink into the ground.
Immediately Jie looked embarrassed, as if remembering she was with An and Shen and not her sisters.
"Ah, sorry—"
"This better not end up being one of your sister's super sordid romance scrolls—"
"Anyway," and Jie then mouthed "shut up" to An. "Thundering Rhino found them, but did not stop the fight, though he wasn't exactly pleased. But Su Wu, the oldest Wu Sister, who watched from her prison tower, was pleased."
"Her sisters Wing and Wan got past Xuan's gorilla guards and freed Su. Reunited, the three made quick work of the guards, and then Su—"
"Wait, what about their signature attack?" An pointed out.
"What?" Shen asked, while Jie put her face in her paws.
"Their super awesome spinning attack, where their tails like connect or something and they turn themselves into this crazy whirling wheel—"
An getured wildly, his arms swift pinwheels in demonstration.
"Yes, that's how they took care of the guards, so the story goes." Jie removed her paws, then took one to whack An upside the head.
"Ow!" An yelped, but Jie continued without another look at him.
"Su Wu couldn't resist capturing Gongmen's prince with him right there, and perhaps killing one of her captor's daughters on top of that."
"The battle was quick and bold, surprise on their side. Prince Baojia was captured, but Su had failed to kill Lady Fen. She decided to simply cut and run then with her captive."
"Lady Fen immediately went after them. Thundering Rhino followed them, but not before recruiting Croc and Storming Ox, two young men he had met before." Jie glanced pointedly to Shen, and he sheepishly grinned.
"Croc had been the leader of the Wool-Stealing bandits before. He and Thundering Rhino had fought, and the Kung Fu master had convinced him to abandon his criminal life."
Shen and An nodded. They'd both heard more detailed and exciting versions of the tale.
"But such a change can't happen overnight. Street fighting was Croc's latest attempt to earn an honest living while on his journey. And despite the reputation of such a practice, it was still relatively a step up from banditry."
"No kidding," An mumbled, and Shen snickered when Jie shot him a glare, making the older boy instantly and hilariously contrite.
"Storming Ox was no thief, but had still lost his way...in a way," Jie mumbled once she realized how awkward her sentence was. She frowned when both Shen and An snickered. "He had lived in Gongmen City before. As a boy, he would skip his chores to watch Master Thundering Rhino practice Kung Fu, and had even been able to learn a little from him."
"I remember Master talk about that," Shen said in a small fond voice, remembering his first day of training with the old rhino.
"But then his kin and he had to leave Gongmen, and Ox had been disheartened by the change. It didn't exactly help that they kept moving around, never really setting roots down again."
"Yet both Storming Ox and Croc held a deep respect for Thundering Rhino still, and agreed to help the man."
"So Lady Fen, Master Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox traveled a long, long way."
"Finally one night while they rested, a small bird messenger landed at their camp. It was one of the Wu Sister's messengers, though one of their enslaved ones, kept in dangling cages..."
Shen grimaced at the thought.
"As such, his loyalty wasn't that great, and he could not abide by the Wu Sisters' current message—a summons to the different bandit clans of China. The Wu Sisters were planning to combine all the clans into a single syndicate to defeat the Imperial army and take over the entire country. Other messengers, both coerced and willing, carried the same message, but this small messenger had one particularly for the Tower of Sacred Flame, carrying word of Prince Baojia's capture for the Gongmen king."
"Master Thundering Rhino thanked the messenger, but that wasn't the end of it. He asked him to continue on his way to Gongmen to inform them of the situation, alert the guard, then to warn the other provinces."
"The makeshift rescue team doubled their pace. Finally they reached Hubei Volcano—"
"See? Told you," An whispered to Shen. Jie snarled and An mock-cowered behind Shen, who tried to hold back a chuckle. Jie rolled her eyes as the prince finally caved in and laughed.
"They freed the rest of the enslaved messengers before finding the meeting hall. Then, they separated: Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox would distract the Wu Sisters and the other clans' representatives while Lady Fen released Prince Baojia."
"The future Kung Fu Masters council were surrounded. Lady Fen found Prince Baojia and—"
"Don't make it mushy," An warned.
"—and quickly freed him, returned his sword which she had carried for him since his kidnapping, and together they joined the fight."
"One by one the bandits fell, and the Wu Sisters were divided."
"C'mon, a little more detail than that, you were havin' so much fun narrating before—
like how about Storming Ox—?"
"Yes, Storming Ox was figuring out how to break the Wus' bond, Croc blocked their wheel of death...thing, with his impenetrable hide, and once Ox spotted their weakest link, Thundering Rhino charged and broke them apart. And Prince Baojia and Lady Fen broke through the bandits as well, and they were so in sync, their enemies started to think they were dealing with a two-headed beast."
"Finally our wolf kin arrived—"
"Including the aunt who told you this?"
"Yeah, and the antelope guard were there too—"
"I wonder if your parents were there," Shen remarked, turning to An.
Jie continued in a loud voice, and Shen shot her an apologetic look.
"—and the battle just grew even more chaotic."
"Like I said before, the Wu Sisters were eventually divided again. Storming Ox and Croc worked together to stop Su. Master Thundering Rhino took care of Wan. But while the Gongmen guard took care of the rest of the bandits, Prince Baojia and Lady Fen went against Wing."
"Everyone was exhausted. And for Wing, cornered as she was and the last Wu standing, she was getting desperate. She succumbed to deep instinct, and used her fangs, biting down on Fen's leg."
Immediately Shen tried to remember if he'd ever seen his mother with a limp—but no, she was perfectly fine. Either this was exaggeration or she healed fine.
"Lady Fen gave into instinct, too, striking down with her beak. Prince Baojia was enraged, and also started to stab with his beak. The three soon became their own spinning wheel as the peafowl tried to get the snow leopard to let go, and she was just really bent on biting clean through bone and—"
An was quickly shaking his head, glaring, and Jie looked a little contrite, but Shen didn't see what the problem was. Clearly his parents had come out of it okay.
"They finally got Wing off. But Prince Baojia did not stop. He still came for the leopard's jaw and..."
Jie hesitated now. An was shaking his head and wiping a cutting claw in front of his throat. Shen stared at him, baffled.
But Jie finished in a small voice, "And he ripped out her tongue."
Shen blinked at Jie. She noticed how she and An watched him closely, their body language awkward and their faces apprehensive. Shen didn't get whatever issue they were having. Were they just worried he'd be utterly disturbed? The whole thing was just...too fantastical. The peacock couldn't really comprehend it; it really was just...legendary, to him. Just a story.
Shen turned to An. "I thought you hadn't heard this story before? But you knew what happened?"
"No, not in this one," An grumbled, glaring at Jie, who straightened up and glared back. "But it was starting to sound a bit...much..."
"It's what I heard," Jie insisted, looking defensive. "And the prince is ten, not four anymore."
An ingored her, facing Shen as he continued. "And I'd heard another story about Wing losing her tongue, but it was a completely different situation without your parents or the Kung Fu masters council and—okay, Jie, a lot more nasty than yours—and, yeah, I was just thinking Jie was...going there. Which she did." An snarled at her. "What was the freakin' point again?"
Shen's brow furrowed. "That I wasn't the only idiot to burn himself...and she was saying one of the Wu Sisters had, um, metaphorically done the same, but with...losing a tongue because she angered my father instead?"
Jie rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish. "Basically."
An stared at her. "You tell the prince a story about mutiliation after he freaked out about maybe losing his foot?"
The girl's eyes snapped to Shen's scarred foot, alarmed. "You were gonna lose it?"
"What? No—I mean, I was nervous, but I didn't need to be, the physician and Nana and everyone else said my foot wasn't in that sort of danger, that An extinguished the fire and got me help quickly enough that it really—"
"Then why were you worried you were going to—oh no, you told him the amputation story?" Jie whirled on An, snarling. "And you have the gall to say mine was too much for his mind?"
"It wasn't a story, I just mentioned it, and that definitely happened!"
"So did mine!" Jie seemed to think about it more, then barked out, "Most of it!" She muttered, "Probably. Auntie might've only exaggerated a little in some parts."
An growled. "Great, so Shen can ask his parents about it now if he wants to get the facts straight. 'Hey dad, did you rip out a lady's tongue after she helped kidnap you, plot to take over China, and tried to rip off your girlfriend's leg on top of that?'"
"Shen is still here," the prince grumbled, and immediately both wolves glanced at him, then turn sheepish.
"Look, the story was good," the white peacock said to Jie. "And I learned, um, that you shouldn't kidnap anyone. And it, uh, made me really glad I didn't lose a leg."
"Always a good thing, dear," the Soothsayer said, and her charge and the teen wolves turned to her, startled. "Lunch is ready."
They ate in the courtyard, the peacock and the wolves sharing awkward glances while the Soothsayer drank her tea.
###
Only when Shen could move on both feet like normal and without his staff did he walk to his parents' sparring hall, weeks after the accident.
He quietly watched them spar. Mother dueled with a staff, father with a wooden sword.
Though Shen imagined them against the bandit clans and the Wu Sisters, he still observed their technique closely, filing it away for future use. When questions rose in his mind about the fighting, he waited until his parents were done to question them.
The boy had been careful not to ask about the Wu Sisters. He'd been tempted to at least ask them if they really had fought the snow leopard criminals; but if father had really ripped one of their tongues out, it might be more than a little awkward...
His parents seemed pleased by his line of questioning, and Shen also felt a gratified calm.
But then they asked him to show them his foot. They didn't specify which, it wasn't necessary. Flushing, Shen stretched it out.
Lady Fen looked it over in her wings, Lord Baojia observing over her shoulder. She conceded that it looked better than she imagined, though her voice was still grave and father's eyes were hard.
Shen nodded eagerly though. "Uh huh, I don't even have to cover it up at all—!"
"And you seemed to walk fine on it now."
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt anymore and works like before and Master Thundering Rhino says I can go back to kung fu training tomorrow and An says we can go to the city again and—!"
There was an urgent knock at the door. The voice behind it was equally adamant about their immediate attention.
Even though they left him soon after, Shen still felt a warm glow as they had told him, "Good work, son."
###
"Intelligence is still maddeningly lacking, but we've only just become aware of it," Lord Baojia said as he paced the throne room. The eyes of the Soothsayer, Fang, Shang, Masters Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox and Croc were inescapably drawn to their Lord and Lady Fen at his side.
"But Shen is their target," the Soothsayer repeated wearily.
"My sisters are certain, as are the rest of the guard," the queen said, her face and voice unreadable.
A/N: So there's another version of the Kung Fu masters of Gongmen meeting. I think I want to do a separate fic on just that sometime. The name of the city is mentioned in the short, the Kung Fu Panda wiki helped me confirm its spelling. Got the names of the other Wu sisters from the Kung Fu Panda wiki, though I'm not sure where they got that info. OC Jie has taken a life on her own, and hopefully Shang and Fang are recognizable as An/young Boss Wolf's parents and predecessors as leaders of the pack. More OCs detailed as Shen's extended family/clan is talked about more. The Kung Fu Panda wiki and "The Art of Kung Fu Panda" 2 iPad app says Shen's feet were burned during the panda massacre. The app gives more detail, the captioned image showing the moment where a just half-blinded Boss Wolf (thanks to Po's father) is about to crash into Shen, further specifying how Shen's talons get burned and how that ends up connecting to Boss Wolf's own scar and Po's father. That was neat, but I went with a different version here. And interestingly enough, if I recall correctly, in the actual movie, we do see Shen jump out of Boss Wolf's way, and it doesn't look like he's ever forced into the fire himself. Now when I first realized Shen's metal talons covered the scars on his feet, I imagined it was actually a lab accident where he burned himself, and I really liked that idea. "Bamboo" by Herehopelies also writes great fic on the idea that Shen burned his own feet during an experiment, though her Shen was older than this one here when burned. BUT as it should be clear above, only one of Shen's feet was burned and scarred; that is an intentional plot point that will be resolved later...