Chapter Text
Hello, thank you for checking out this story! It hasn't been fully developed yet, but I wanted to start it in advance. I hope, you will like this new option for a Shen-survival-story. Enjoy!
You can see the cover on deviantART: https://www.deviantart.com/bookdreamcatcher/art/Where-The-Sun-Rises-Cover-1058394438
Seconds of silence passed. The smell of burnt, wet wood was still in the air, laying heavy over Gongmen Harbor - caused by an exploded cannon. Destroyed ships stuck out of the water all around. But no one paid attention to the extent of the destruction caused by the fight between two opponents - a panda and a peacock.
On one of the destroyed shipwrecks lay the peacock Lord Shen, who was still pondering the words of the panda standing next to him - Dragon Warrior Po.
"Yes," the peacock finally murmured in a composed voice. "Then I choose … THIS!" At the same time, he pulled out his feather knives from his wing and attacked the panda with them. Po reacted quickly and threw Shen away. Shen rolled across the floor and lay on the deck panting for a few seconds, glaring at the panda.
"Battle is over," Po tried to persuade him. "You don't have to keep acting all evil."
Trembling, Shen stood up. No, he didn't want to and couldn't surrender! With a flick of his long peacock tail, he threw feather knives at the panda. Shortly afterwards, Shen hurled the last of his feather knives from his wings. Po was just able to protect himself with a plank. Finally, Shen grabbed his long sword and continued to attack the panda with it. Over and over again.
He didn't know how long or how often he tried to hit the panda and the panda kept fighting him off. Something inside of him told him to stop, but he just couldn't.
At some point all he remembered was a cracking sound. Something gave way behind him. He looked behind himself. The cannon slowly began to lower itself - right at him.
He heard the panda's hurried footsteps fleeing. Shen didn't look. His only focus was on his weapon, which was supposed to help him win. Now it seemed to be turning against him.
He stared up as if petrified. His legs wanted to run away, but only images of the past mixed with voices ran through his mind.
As long as you stay on the dark path ...
Shen shook off the feeling of flight. No point of return. He had made up his mind and chosen this path. How would he be otherwise? As a coward and an outlaw criminal. He would rather die voluntarily than be sentenced to death.
He internally surrendered to his fate. He closed his eyes and waited for the relieving blow that would free him from his dilemma. He tensed his muscles, trying to kill any feeling or emotion in his body in advance.
Suddenly, something pulled him aside. Paws … paws that grabbed him. But not gentle, but imperious. Almost brutal. He was startled. This was not how he imagined death. It didn't hug him, but seemed to want to torment him. Shortly afterwards, he felt cold water, which cut off his air supply and he could only taste the salt water. A wave of pressure rumbled through his ears underwater. He opened his eyes a little, but couldn't see anything clearly because of the cloudiness. All around him, wooden planks sank into the sea. Something grabbed his collar and pulled him upright. Gasping, he broke the surface of the water. Cold wind filled with ash hit him. He gasped for breath and at the same time his thinking started again.
Had one of the kung fu students found him after all?
This thought reawakened in him the fear of death by legal condemnation. He lashed out. His wing hit a face. A man's voice cursed something in Japanese. The paws left him. Still too exhausted from the fight, the peacock sank into the depths of the sea. But then he was lifted again with a jerk and brought back to the surface. But before he could defend himself again, someone hit him on the head. He swallowed a lot of sea water again before losing consciousness.
So far, thank you very much for reading. Probably, I will upload the chapters irregularly and at wide intervals because, as I said, the story is not complete yet.
The sequence where Po talks to Shen is a deleted scene from the second Kung Fu Panda 2 movie.