Kung Fu Panda Fanfic - The Rise of a Hero

(X) Wounds from the Past

Po's fall left everyone stunned. Shen laughed out loud as the Furious Five fell to their knees. Dejected by such a tragic event. Lacking the strength to fight, the masters were mowed down and shackled by Shen's large army as he slowly made his way down the stairs, looking at them with his chilling red eye.

Wolf leader: - What do we do with them, my lord? -

Shen: - Chain them and hang them from the mainmast. I want all of China to witness their defeat. - She said cynically while holding Tigress's chin with her hand, but she could barely fight to keep her tears from coming out.

Po's body floated calmly on the calm waters of the river. Scorched, injured, with several broken bones, but with an encouraging and forced breath. He floated freely to the edge of a meander, where his body ran aground on the muddy earth there. Subsequently, the shadow of a silhouette approaches him slowly, and remains standing, right in front of his head.

Po was in some kind of coma. Her mind wandered against her will, separated from her body. But a cold and annoying feeling on his forehead made him wake up. When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside an abandoned cabin, destroyed by the passing of the years and the constant scourge of nature.

Po managed to move his head around a bit, even though it hurt a lot, and he managed to see the broken walls, as well as the tall grass around. And to her left, in another corner of the hut, the silhouette of the strange fortune-teller from Shen's palace waited patiently, gazing into the fire of a bonfire. Po did his best to move his sore body and get up without her hearing him, but it was impossible.

Guess: - If I had wanted you dead, I would have left you in that river. - He said still with his back to Po.

Po: - Why did you save me? - He said with a tired voice and after a long sigh.

Guess: - So you can fulfill your destiny. - He said as he approached with a cup in his hands.

Po: - What are you talking about? Where I am? What's that? - He said when he saw the strange brown liquid inside the cup.

Guess: - Take it. It will make you feel better. -

He told her while offering him the rate. Po sniffed cautiously and found it unappetizing. Then he took a small sip, but it was unpleasant. Finally, holding his breath and doing everything possible so that the concoction did not touch his tongue, he drank said liquid, not without ending up showing a disgusted face.

Po: - What is this place? -

Guess: - I'm surprised you remember so little, but... you were very young when everything happened. -

The fortune teller's words opened a channel inside Po's mind. Screams of despair tore through her mind, giving her a terrible headache. Po got up from the makeshift bed he was on, but fell to his knees, unable to keep his balance. She dragged herself to the edge of the cabin with all her might as these visions came and went, pulverizing her mind.

Guess: - Or maybe if you remember a little. -

Po: - It's just a stupid nightmare. -

Guess: - Nightmare... or memory? -

The fortune teller's words tore a deep hole in Po's mind. An immeasurable amount of information suddenly hit his mind. Memories of a peaceful and picturesque village of pandas who lived in peace and harmony. And the image of a small, happy and playful panda that was reflected in the puddle formed by the rain.

Guess: - This was a wonderful villa. Lord Shen was meant to be the ruler of Gongmen City, but he wanted more. I predicted that someone was going to stop him. A panda. But I could never predict... what would happen next. -

Another set of painful memories came to Po's mind. The image of the village in flames, devastated by the army of wolves that Shen led. The cry of a baby panda screaming for help as the fire consumed everything around it. The silhouette of a peacock with the Shen patterns drawn on its tail, which ordered two of its soldiers to devour the innocent creature. And at the last moment, the back of his father hitting the wolves with his huge hammer.

Father: «Take our son, and run away. Go. "

The mother carries the little panda, and he drops his favorite stuffed animal while looking sadly at the silhouette of his father, whose face he did not remember. The stuffed animal fell on the burning rubble, and there it remained, motionless and patient, for Po himself to come back for it as an adult.

Po took the stuffed animal in his hands. Bruised and with some unstitched threads, missing an eye and with part of its upper part consumed by flames. Po looked at him sadly, but his head was pounding with each flash from the past that bombarded his mind.

Guess: - Stop fighting. Let it flow. -

Po: - How am I supposed to deal with all this pain and all this... frustration that I feel? - She told him as a tear appeared on her face.

Guess: - You must not face them. You must accept them. Both are important part of you, and you should not deny them. -

Po emptied his mind and followed the fortune teller's words. He looked at the sky while the rain hit his face, and tried to find peace in the most terrible of storms. Po placed the stuffed animal right in front of him, took a deep breath, stepped back, and became one with the rain.

He gently took a small drop of water with the palm of his hand, and passed it from one hand to the other with elegance and patience without losing its shape. With each seemingly meaningless movement, more memories flooded back into his mind. Memories of her mother, how she ran in the snow up to her feet on the coldest of nights, running from the pack of wolves that was chasing them.

The drop of water elegantly followed the path that Po put at its disposal, until it finally dropped gently on a small one that protruded from the wet grass. Finally, Po was able to remember the truth. The tearful face of his mother, who had put him inside the vegetable basket so that the wolves wouldn't find him, then run away as far as possible so that his pursuers wouldn't find Po, and behind her, a white shadow with their feathers dyed in the crimson of blood.

Now, knowing the truth of his past, Po felt an immense emptiness inside. Fueled by the anger and sadness that consumed him. The fortune teller, in her slow step, approached Po from behind, and told him something that he would never forget.

Guess: - Your story may not have a happy beginning. But that doesn't make you who you are. It's the rest of the story... who you want to be. -

After those words, a small light lit up in Po's withered heart. All the memories of his life came to his mind. Since his adoptive father found him, how he fell in love with Kung Fu and all the difficulties he had to get to that moment. Every memory, whether sad or happy, made him feel alive again.

Guess: - So... Who are you, panda? - Po got up slowly, accepting everything that was and what was, and with his destiny engraved in his eyes.

Po: - I am Po. And I'm... The Dragon Warrior. -