Chapter 3: Pandas and Prophecies
Any panda who survived to tell the tale of the massacre that happened will all tell you the same thing:
'No amount of bravery would have prepared us for what we saw that day.'
Any wolf who survived would have told you different:
'The day was ours the moment we set foot in that village.'
Both sides suffered losses and both sides will tell you different stories as to what actually happened. The pandas will tell you that they were mercilessly slaughtered one by one. The wolves will tell you that it was a fierce and glorious battle between the two, but ultimately they came out victorious.
This is an account of the event as it really happened, told through the eyes of Kahn.
As the wolves army approached the village, Shen knew the element of surprise was on their side. He didn't hesitate to command his army to--
"CHARGE!"
Then battle cries enveloped the sound waves and grew closer towards the confused pandas as they saw what was approaching them. The female pandas began gathering their children and all made their way outside the village. Many were cut down trying to run. Cries of children were silenced with swords. Pained howls could be heard as many wolves were met with the heavy steel weaponry of the pandas protecting their families.
Kahn had never seen anything like this, he almost hesitated to do anything. That is, until a panda had thrown an axe at him, the axe landed onto a wooden wall, near his head. Kahn looked at the panda who threw it and became furious. He promised his mother he wasn't going to die and he was going to keep that promise.
The panda soldier ran to him swinging a large battle axe at him. Kahn dodged and weaved around. The panda swung vertically at him and Kahn jumped out of the way, causing the panda to swing his axe down deep into the dirt. The panda attempted to pull it out, but he couldn't. Before the panda knew it, an arrow was lodged into his throat. Kahn had shot him with a crossbow. The panda gurgled and spat up blood as he fell with a mighty thud.
Kahn was heavily panting. This was the first time he had ever killed anyone. He thought to himself:
'Did he even deserve it?... Was this murder?... No, no. It was self defense. He attacked me first. This is war. I made a promise. I have to do this or else Shen will have my head. I'm not going to let anyone or anything kill me… and I will certainly not be killed by some fat pathetic panda.'
He knew he had no choice. This was either kill or be killed and he had to obey his leader. Kill them all. Men, women…
…children…
Kahn saw before him a baby panda, holding tight in his little arms a stuffed doll in the shape of a panda. The baby was scared. Crying for his parents. Kahn just stared at the baby. Did he have what it took to finish it? After all, it's not like it was a human like he once was.
Just as he was about to raise his crossbow a wolf soldier ran up to him and spoke with a booming raspy voice.
"What the hell are you doin' just standing there?..."
He looked down at the baby panda.
"What are you waiting for? Do it."
Kahn stared at the baby panda, who had now stared back at him. His crying ceased.
The crossbow was now aimed at his face. The baby of course was oblivious to the situation and looked at the wolf not with fear, but with wonder.
All he had to do was just close his finger.
That's all he had to do…
And…
…
…
…
He couldn't…
He lowered his crossbow, much to the dismay of his fellow wolf soldier who scolded him before swiping the crossbow out of his hands.
"You coward. I'll show you how it's done."
He swiftly aimed at the baby, but before he could pull the trigger, a large sledgehammer hit him right in his face, right in his eye. The wolf went flying and Kahn jumped at this, but before he could react the panda swung his sledgehammer at his stomach, flinging him through a building that was on fire. He fell back and hit the ground. The big panda picked up the baby and handed him over to a female panda.
"Take our son and go! Run and don't look back!"
The woman ran off with the baby into the woods outside the panda village as the big panda was now standing over a frightened Kahn.
Kahn crawled backwards as the panda walked towards him with his massive sledgehammer. Just as he was about to lift it over his head, Fang lunged at him and grabbed the sledgehammer, both fathers were now struggling for control of the hammer.
"Kahn! Run!"
Kahn hesitated.
"Don't worry about me, just go!"
Kahn didn't want to run. He was many things, but a coward was not one of them, he then began to run towards them both, but the front entrance of the building he was in collapsed in front of him. He realized the whole building around him was about to fall on top of him. He then began to run for another way out but before he knew it, the entire building fell on top of him as the flames grew higher. Kahn couldn't move and he was beginning to lose consciousness.
No… not like this… he couldn't just die now…
His vision then became black as he drifted off.
…
…
...
5 Hours Later…
Kahn managed to wake up. His whole body ached as he tried to get up off of the ground. He expected his body to be burning but he felt the opposite. Everything was cold. He then began to get up. Pulling off all the burnt pieces of wood off from his body. He suffered only a few cuts and bruises. Not to mention a few bits of his gray fur was slightly blackened and burnt from the fire. He managed to just barely stand. After a few minutes of getting his footing, he managed to regain his strength and walk out from the ruined house and into the remains of the village.
Snow covered much of the village, as if a blizzard had hit. It would explain why Kahn didn't burn alive inside that house. It was also night. The stars were covered by the clouds in the sky.
Very few wolves lay dead, and many pandas were slaughtered.
And though the sight of dead panda mothers with their faces frozen in fear, accompanied with the bodies of panda children strewn across the once lively village… it would be the second most disturbing thing he'd see today.
Kahn's eyes widened at the horrific sight before him. A black wolf that lay on his back. His head crushed into a bloody pulp.
The head of a sledgehammer lay on top of the bloody chunks of what used to be the wolf's cranium. The only part of the head that wasn't crushed to bits was the bottom jaw. It wasn't the horrific sight of a half headless wolf that disturbed him so, but rather it was the fact that the wolf wore a white beaded bracelet around his right wrist.
Kahn fell to his knees and tried to cry out in pain… but he couldn't. All that came out were small whimpers. His mouth was open as if he were screaming, but as much as he wanted to scream, he couldn't. It just hurt too much. Once again, fate had fucked him over. Once again he had lost a loved one.
Kahn was now truly alone.
Kahn buried his face into his father's body, sobbing.
A few minutes later he then heard a rustle inside one of the village's ruined buildings. It came from what appeared to be a temple.
Kahn grabbed a crossbow and slowly made his way to the temple.
Inside the temple a lone panda appeared to be looking for something. He removed debris and rubble to reveal a trap door. He went down the ladder and made his way down. A few minutes later he held a green bag and made his way up the ladder. He then was met face to face with Kahn's crossbow. The panda's eyes grew wide.
"Get out." Kahn said. Anger clearly present in his voice.
The panda slowly got up from the underground room entrance.
"What's in the bag?" Kahn asked bluntly.
"N-nothing. Just old historical documents. I-I was sent to retrieve them."
"By who?"
"Our village leader."
"Open the bag."
"What?"
"I said open it."
"O-okay, but I'm telling you, it's really nothing of great concer--"
"NOW!"
The panda yelped in fear and swiftly opened the bag and pulled out three green scrolls.
"Those don't look like any scrolls I've ever seen."
"Like I said, they're just historical documents."
"What kind of historical documents?"
"Y-you know. About our village's history."
Kahn then shot the panda in the left knee with his crossbow. The bolt lodged itself halfway through the panda's kneecap.
The panda screamed in pain as he fell to the ground holding his leg. The scrolls fell to the ground and rolled towards Kahn's feet. He holstered his crossbow in a sheath behind his back and took the scroll. He opened it up. It showed illustrations of a tortoise performing what Kahn thought to be some form of advanced Tai-Chi.
He ignored the screaming from the panda as he looked at the scroll's case and saw that it was titled:
"How to Perfect Your Chi Mastery: Part III"
"Well shit. Something tells me this is more than just a historical document."
"Please… you can't look at those…" The panda pleaded as he panted.
"Or what? Heh. What else you got down there."
"Nothing! There's nothing else!"
"Are you sure about that?"
He said, this time aiming the crossbow at the panda's face. The panda immediately froze up and stuttered a bit before talking.
"T-there's other scrolls down there… but you can't look at them…"
"Says who?"
"The Universe forbids--"
" The Universe forbids? Ha! Hahahahahahahahahaha! The Universe forbids me? What's so important about those scrolls that The Universe in its "infinite wisdom" forbids ME to look upon?"
"Those scrolls hold dangerous knowledge that no one should have… I say this not just as a warning for you, but for the entire world… I beg you… do not read those scrolls… You couldn't possibly understand its power…"
"Is that so? Tell me, do you really think you can stop me from getting in there and reading every single one?"
The panda looked down to the ground. He knew he wasn't meant to stop him.
"If The Universe wills it…"
"I've had just about enough of your Universe bullshit!" He said as he motioned the crossbow much more closer to his face.
"You cannot begin to fathom the will of the universe."
"OH?! Really?! No, I fully understand the will of the universe! You know what the Universe's "will" for me was? Striking me with a bolt of lighting and killing my mother in a very slow and painful way! And now my father! My FATHER! Lies over there dead with his head smashed to bits…"
His voice cracked as he yelled the word "dead", he was an emotional wreck at this point. Tears streaming down his face as he continued ranting.
"...I know what the "will" of The Universe is… its will is to kill me… like it killed me before… But it's not gonna work this time… I am the gatekeeper of my own destiny! NO ONE CAN CONTROL ME! I control whether I live or die… just like I control yours…"
A sinister smile formed upon his face as he aimed the crossbow once again at the helpless panda's head. The panda extending his left paw out to plead for mercy.
"Please… You don't have to do this…"
"Who's gonna stop me if I wanted to? Hm? The Universe?"
"W-we can't fully understand the way The Universe wo--"
Kahn then aimed for his other knee and shot him. The panda cried out in a pained scream once again. Tears streaming down his face too.
"Maybe The Universe knew I was gonna do that, maybe it didn't? If it did that means this entire chain of events was orchestrated deliberately, purposefully! If it did, you know what that means?"
"You're crazy…." The panda said while crying.
"...You're crazy…."
"It means…"
Kahn aimed the crossbow to the panda's head. The panda was now frightened.
"...This was the will of The Universe."
"NOOO--!"
The panda's cry of sheer terror was silenced by the swift arrow that pierced through his brain.
Tears began to flow once more from Kahn's eyes.
What has he done?...
…
…
He just proved the Universe wrong…
Yes…
That's it…
And he'll prove it wrong once more by reading the contents of those scrolls.
As he went inside the underground bunker, he saw what appeared to be thousands of scrolls… all detailing some form of power relating to chi.
"How to Use Chi as a Healing Property"
"How to Implement Chi in Your Attacks"
"How to Use Chi to Properly Meditate: A Guide to Inner Peace"
One set of scrolls caught his eye more than the others…
"The Basics of Kung Fu: Volume I"
And
"The Fundamentals of Immortality and Why No One Should Have It"
Truly… with these scrolls and their knowledge…
No one would be able to stop him from exacting revenge on the panda who killed his father and The Universe that wronged him so.
Well. Shit. I bet you're all wondering where I'd been? Long story short: family business. Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but yeah, it's as simple as that. Don't worry, I'm still working on the next chapter of Strange New World, things have just not been… well… inspirational as of late. But trust me I'm working on it. Just bear with me. Thank you to the people who bothered to read this as opposed to my more popular fic. This one just kinda popped into my head while writing SNW and I couldn't get it out for the longest time. Anyway, I hoped you liked it. Rate, review, follow, all that good shit and I'll hopefully have a new SNW chapter before the end of July. No promises tho.
C U Next Time!
