"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

William Shakespeare

Kung Fu Panda

The Long Night

Chapter III: Ansehe Wan

Eyes….yes this fits.

This city is full of eyes. When you are walking around, chatting, eating or even sleeping. Always someone has an eye on you. No sign of privacy here.

I begin to walk on the wooden road.

Ansehe Wan or Black River Bay. A city no one really likes. Especially the citizens of it. It was built in the Black River. Yes inside the river. Not at the banks or an island, but simply on the water. All the buildings and roads are standing on solid pillars out of wood. Only the borders of the city are at the banks like for example the Docks.

I reach the bridge to the eastern Banks and continue walking.

Ansehe Wan reminds me of this Swamp City, where I have met Tai Lung. But the climate here is much hotter. Obviously Tropical. Dawns and Dusks are the most trickery times of day: Thick fog is swirling around in these times, which is why even a guy with night vision like me has problems to see someone, who could watch me. Still it is the best time to stay hidden as well, which is why I am walking at this time of the day right now.

I begin to hear something.

And if this city wasn't already bad enough, its citizens are not much better. Beside the natives, who dislike the newcomers, the newcomers are much worse. They are the whole scum of the world. I have already seen people from home and some birds called turkeys from somewhere I have never been. And here he needs to hide.

I recognize this melody. I reach the banks and see the reason for the music: an old snake with black-yellow striped pattern, a black head and tail, is playing his fiddle. It is the same blind guy from the tavern. It is almost a life time ago.

"Have never thought to see you once again." I mutter loud enough that he needs to hear me. He stops playing and grins.

"The young feline from that day. You sound fine."

"I am. And how are you?"

"Fine as well. I have heard you have taught some oxen some lessons."

"Yeah, they were stubborn and needed these lessons desperately. But let us stop talking about me. How have you been? How could you end here in the worst city on the world?"

He chuckles. "I don't know, if it is the worst city of the world, but this is so, because I have no clue where I have end up. I go there where the wind leads me."

"I see….rather practical philosophy."

"Yes, indeed…..you need to have a rather interesting philosophy as well, when you have not heard on my advice back then."

"That with the fear? I have heard on it. But they were frightened and not me."

He smirks. "I see….so why are you in the worst city of the world?"

I see something in the fog. "Sorry, old man, but I need to go. Someone is waiting for me."

I begin to take the first step, when he stops me with his old voice. "I can only repeat my advice from back then. You should look out for the fear. It is always there, where you are not expecting it."

I turn around to him and nod. Then I go further to the Eastern Docks.

For the last months I have searched him. Weeks ago I heard that he should be here and so I took the next ship. Proper asking and eavesdropping has not let to a single clue about his whereabouts. Till today. Finally I have found you!

I reach my destination: An old tavern right in the middle of the Eastern Docks. It is built like the buildings in the Black River, which means inside the water on pillars. A friend of him is the owner. I need to be careful.

I enter it and almost immediately I get welcomed by the typical characteristics of a tavern, which is full with Seaman. I smell alcohol, I hear the too loud noise of chatting or playing – at least no fighting – and I see the tavern is so full that it should have exploded already long ago.

It is hard to go through these used tables, stools, benches and chairs without knocking on someone. Then a big and fat pig stands up right into my way, so I need to stop.

"Don't be afraid. Fear is an illusion, which controls the weak. You are not weak…." I hear the words of an odd black bear from the closest table, before the pig frees my way. I go directly to the bar, where another pig is standing. Tough guy I would guess. Have not met a single not tough host in this land since I am here. Odd for such a country like China.

"What do you want?" he asks me rudely, but I don't think he needs to be polite by such customers.

"One cup wine. A strong one." I order and he pulls out a cup and a small barrel full with this transparent wine, which is found in China. I drink the cup empty in one go.

"Another one?" he asks me still holding the barrel in his hand.

"No. But I want to talk with him." I reply warming-up my neck.

"I don't kn…" he wants to say, but I interrupt him: "You know who I mean. Your old friend." I glare at him and he puts the barrel back, where it was before.

"He doesn't want to talk with you, Shadow." he says directly. At least not a big talker.

"He will need to. A No, I am not accepting." I reply and add after I notice something, "And it can end better for him, when he talks with me, instead of watching me only."

I see him in the corner to the right of the bar. Sitting in the shadows, hiding himself except his snout. I have also realized that some of the customers have stood up. This needs to be his guard.

"Indifferent. He still doesn't want to…" the pig wants to say, but he interrupts him, "I want to talk with him. Bring another candle."

The surprised pig does what he was said to do, while I stroll to the chair opposite of his. I realize that the backdoor is only one or two steps away from his position.

After the pig had brought the candle, I can finally see his face: His ice-blue eyes, his yellow lynx face and his somehow arrogant mien.

"For a refugee of Tian Yi's army, you seem to live well." I say while remembering the day I have seen him the first time. It was in Gongmen City, where we have captured him as a part of the Intelligence Group of Tian Yi. He was brought to the Kung Fu Council, but could escape shortly after we left the City.

"So you have informed yourself about me?" he asks curiously.

"Of course I have. Your real name is Pantu. After your escape out of Gongmen City you were on the run. You have stayed nowhere for too long. That's why it was pretty hard to find you."

"And why have you searched for me? Tian Yi is beaten or not?"

I nod my head. "Yes he is, but I still need your knowledge. You were once a member of the Order of the Black Claw. You were an insider. And you are my only lead to where I can find the Order. Its old HQ was left behind empty."

He chuckles. "And you think I will talk? Here? It seems, you don't know, what the Order is doing with traitors, who have left it."

"I have experience in this matter. They kill them. Like they killed all the other survived members of Tian Yi's former Intelligence Group. I have searched for them as well and I bet you have heard about this like me."

He keeps silent. "I admit that for a Non-Member of the Order your skill of information collecting is quite impressive."

"Like I said: I have experience in this matter. After my last state there are still three survivors. Two, which I can't find – and probably this is the reason, why they still live – and you. You are in danger."

He glares at me. "You are wrong. I am safe."

"When you mean the thugs behind me, you should know better than me, that they are no real guards against the Order."

He keeps silent once again for a while. "I don't have many possibilities in my position. These thugs are the best I can get."

I stretch out my face closer to his. "I can give you something better than them."

He looks me directly into the eyes. "So this is it? I will give your knowledge about the Order and you will protect me. Don't make me laugh."

"I am better than all your thugs."

"And you are alone. And I don't trust you. You have broken your word once, so what stops you from doing it again."

I knew that this topic would come, but I have hoped that not. "Back then….I changed. The situation around me changed. I had no other possibilities except ignoring my promise. But such a thing will not happen again."

"I still don't trust you, Cien. Yeah, I know your name as well. Or should I call you Shadow of the West? Yes, in this way the people call you after the incident with Tian Yi. His former army had cared for this."

I sigh. "I don't care how the people call me as long as I get the information from you."

"You don't get it. I will not tell you. And now leave. I need to find a better hideout than this."

I know that his thugs have stood up once again. "You still don't realize it, do you? I have not come here to negotiate with you, if you would give me this information or not. I have come here to get it."

"Yes, of course…" he chuckles, when I hear the loud slam of a door. Finally they are here.

"There is a saying in my home, Pantu: when you go into the Lion's Den, you should have an ace up in your sleeve."

"Where is the owner of this rathole!?" the leader of this new group of thugs, a rhino, yells. The Pig leaves his bar with a club and gets accompanied by the thugs of Pantu.

"Me. Who is asking?"

"I am here to tell you finally, what I think about this so called tavern: It is smelly. It is sticky. It is the ugliest place on earth. And all the people, who enter it, are idiots, because they don't see it."

Direct, but effective. I see like the customers stand up as well.

"And the customers are not only idiots, they are also smelly, st…" his further words are interrupted by a fist in his face. The customers attack the thugs and the thugs attack the customers. As planned no one cares for us anymore.

"Your protection has vanished right now." I say to him, preparing that he would attack me.

He licks his lips. And then he stands up – as well as me – and runs to the backdoor. After he had opened and passed it, he trips over one end of a staff and almost falls into the water, but can still hold himself on the railing. When he turns around the staff hits his head hard, but not so hard, that he would faint.

"You see, it is never harmful to have a second ace in the sleeve." I say, while leaving the tavern as well and closing the door behind me. The staff wielder beside me is my gorgeous vixen Aijna. Her Sideswept Bang is shorter now, but still as scarlet as ever. She wears newer black clothes, which fit perfectly to her figure, as well like a grayish cloak. I grin. We have matching clothes.

In her hand is the Staff of Sun Wukong, I have given it to her so I would be harder to detect.

Its emerald colors are shining even in the darkness of the night only supported by the light of the small torches.

"You were great, gorgeous." I compliment her.

"Don't talk to me, but to him. I want to leave this place as fast possible." is her not so polite reply, but I don't care much about this. I come closer to Pantu's head and grab it hard. "Only to inform you: the Dragon Warrior and his friends are not here. So you have a choice to make: Either it will be the soft way or the hard way. Choose wisely."

He waits with his answer and I begin to raise my right fist.

"Okay, the soft way." he accepts finally, "But not here. When you could find me, the Order can as well. I want to be safe, before I talk."

I let him go and grin back at Aijna. "Why are my interrogations always so easy?" I ask amused.

Then we hear a yell. A loud yell. It comes from the tavern, where we look at immediately. The yell ends and we hear like the noise of fighting subsides, but there for the noise of destroyed furniture increases much more. After a while of asking faces at each other someone comes flying through the wall in front of me. I – and Pantu as well – can still fall on our knees before the flying rhino hits us. Instead he hits the water behind Pantu.

We look at each other and then at the hole in the wall. I crawl to it and look inside. All the thugs and customers are lying knockout on the ground of the destroyed tavern. And this time it so strong destroyed, that you would not be able to detect that this was once a tavern. Everything is destroyed and in the middle of this destruction is standing the bear from earlier. I look at his armor, which is patched together by green and black plates and strapless, and detect thereby his collar: it is white. He is a Moon Bear, from which Aijna have talked once. They are found in her home country.

I look around more and realize that this guy have done this all alone. "Wow…" I mutter quietly and regret it shortly after: the bear hears it and detects me immediately. His eyes have no color at all and I can see his sharp teeth, while he growls at me.

"Eh, wait…I am not an enemy." I say, while he takes a step closer to me. Then he takes another and his angry face doesn't change at all.

"Hey, wait…Stop!" I try to stop him, but he comes still closer. And then he yells once again and charges me.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stooooooooooooooppppppppp!" I yell before and in the moment, when he dashes me and sends me flying. I see still like the tavern diverges from me and the black water of the river comes closer. And then I hit it hard….

My last thought before I faint: Why?

The third chapter and you can see my OC Cien once again. Hope you like to see him back. :)

"Kung Fu Panda" (c) DreamWorks Animation

I own nothing except for the written word.
Characters you don't know are from me. The Idea is also from me.