Hearts of Black and White

1. Inner War

[Attention! The words in bold include some spoilers about the new Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer!]

Hi, well, after the first trailer of the new Kung Fu Panda movie came out, I wanted, like planned, to upload the first chapter of this story, which I started to write three years ago. The main reason is, after I watched the first KFP4 trailer, it seems that the new villain, the chameleon, will transform into the figure of Shen or she will bring him back to steal his soul. I have mixed feelings. On one side, I'm glad that DreamWorks doesn't seem forget Shen, but on the other hand, it's still my favorite Lord-Shen-comeback version that he survived the cannon crash, and I will keep this version in my fanfiction stories. And to show that I'm really serious about it, I want to start to upload this story "Hearts of Black and White". With this story, I want to show, how I could imagine, how Shen could come back after Kung Fu Panda 3. But without coming back from the afterlife/dead. For this reason, I want to write this statement before the fourth movie will enter the big screen. How I said, this story was an idea which I had a few years ago. But after according speculations, many months ago, it was said that the three villains of the three pre-movies would come back, and I guessed that this could only happen with supernatural elements. Because, we know, Tai Lung, Lord Shen and Kai disappeared after the movies. And it seems that the supernatural way will come true. But this is not my way of thinking for my stories. So I won't join the canon of the fourth film. I want to keep the familiar atmosphere of the first and second movie, instead of the "Dragon Knight"- style which includes too much supernatural elements. Especially since I have no connection to oversized spiritualistic themes in books or movies. By the way, this wasn't a main part of the first film, with which I joined into the Kung Fu Panda fandom. So unfortunately, I can't handle this type of genre and it's now as ever not my field of interest in literature.

Take all together, I want to say: Shen's survival will always be my favorite version of his comeback, instead of summoning by a sorceress. Even if DreamWorks says that he died in the second movie (and is living somewhere in the afterlife or where else). In my opinion, nobody should find peace in suicide (he had always the chance to run away, but he just closed his eyes.)

Despite all, I just hope, you will enjoy reading. Thank you!

Hint!: I didn't level criticism against people who will like the new movie. I just wrote my own opinion and it was just my point of view how I will write my stories. So please, don't expect that I would write a story about the fourth movie, in case, if Shen comes back there. I will not do this!

By the way, I will write this story parallel to my "last" series story. Longer breaks between uploads can be possible.

I wish you a good reading time!

The rising wind rustled through the treetops of the lonely, dark forest. The smell of rain was in the air. The white peacock hugged himself as the cold wind blew across his plumage. He stood on a hill in the hilly, wooded landscape so that he could see far into the distance. On the horizon, dark rain clouds rose into the dusky evening sky. A barely audible, deep, ominous rumble rang out. At this sound, the peacock froze and hugged himself even tighter. A storm was raging inside him. A storm like the thunderstorm that announced its coming from the distance with deep rumblings of thunder. He felt restless and yet he didn't know where to go other than to the remotest parts of China, far into the forests where no one would find him.
The white peacock breathed in and out deeply. His lungs ached with sadness. Every second of his exile many years ago, he envisioned achieving his goal, which gave him motivation and encouragement every day to never get tired. Now he was faced with the rubble of his dreams and could only pick up the pieces to build something new. As far as he felt equal to doing something. His gaze wandered to his left leg, which he had pulled up slightly. The accident a few years ago in his former hometown Gongmen City, when his own weapon fell on him, had taken a terrible toll on him. It was a miracle, he didn't break his neck.
He winced as lightning briefly lit the sky, but the storm was still far enough away that the thunder that followed came later and not loudly.
"Dad," he heard a frightened girl's voice behind him. He turned his head slightly backwards, where a little peachick girl had appeared and was looking at him pleadingly with fearful eyes. "Don't you want to come into the house?"
He raised the corners of his beak in a pained, gentle smile. She was just four years old, her feathers were white with small brown and green spots spread over her face and neck, and her purple coat, which he had stolen from an old clothing collection, was still too big for her. "I'll be right there." He turned back to the approaching storm. He really wanted to come right away, but then he fell back into deep thought and just stared straight ahead. The first drops of rain hit his face and wet his feathers. He closed his eyes and let his wings hang almost weakly. And so it happened that at some point small wings reached for his own, almost numb, wing. He winced as the touch brought life back to him. His blank gaze wandered next to him, where the little peachick girl was looking up at him.
"Can't we leave?" she asked.
The white peacock looked at her silently, then he shook his head. "It's too dangerous out there."
"Those evil creatures again?"
He nodded gently. "Yes."
Lightning flashed through the sky again. He felt the chick flinch and hug his wing. "Let's go inside. Please!"
Her fearful voice made his stomach clench. He felt the muscles in his face shape into a saddened expression. "Alright, let's go in."
As soon as he turned around, the peachick girl quickly pulled him behind her. Behind the bushes was an old house with an overgrown garden. It was an abandoned Chinese farm that no one missed and no one visited. As if you had arrived at a place of oblivion. And that's what the white peacock wanted to be, forgotten - for now. Just until his time came again.
The peacock limped slightly. He found it difficult to climb the steps onto the wooden terrace. He did exercise regularly, but that didn't help him regain his former agility.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the chick let go of his wing. The white peacock closed the door behind him, pushed the bolt in front of it and also blocked it with a wooden beam. Then he leaned his back against it and let his gaze wander around the room. It was dark inside. The shutters were closed. A small fire burned on the fireplace. His eyes went to the little peachick girl. She had retreated to a blanket in the corner. There she sat down and played with wooden blocks that he had carved for her. The white peacock sighed. It pained him that he couldn't give her better toys. Back in the palace he could afford everything. He felt his finger feathers cramp. He had to vent so he wouldn't beat something up. Quietly, he sat down on a stool and beckoned the peachick girl over to him.
"Have you finished your school work?" he asked.
The chick stood up. "Yes, I have. It's there." She went to a nearby table, took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
"I wrote it in the most beautiful handwriting," she announced proudly.
He took it, his gaze falling on the feather tips of his wings. They were disheveled. His beautiful, elegant beauty was long gone and he was denied the luxury he once had after his "death". Including his wearing apparel. Instead of an expensive silky white robe, he had to wear a shabby brown long coat with a hood, to avoid that somebody could see his white plumage in the landscape.
"Dad?" the peachick girl asked worriedly. "Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head hastily. "Oh, no, it's just... You wrote that beautifully." Actually, it wasn't school work, but tasks that he had assigned to her, which he remembered from when he had still had private lessons in the palace.
A satisfied smile played around the corners of his beak. For a four-year-old girl, these beautiful, neat Chinese characters were a masterpiece.
"And the math exercises I wrote down for you?"
The chick handed him another piece of paper with numbers scribbled on it. The white peacock glanced through it briefly, then he nodded with satisfaction. Errorless. As he expected. Gratification rose in his wounded soul. His daughter was to acquire at an early age an intelligence that was to exceed that of others. She should be superior to any other child.
The chick tilted his head in confusion when he didn't answer. "Did I do something wrong?"
With a gentle smile, he leaned down to her and let his wings rest on her small shoulders. "No, you didn't do anything wrong," he said in a soft voice, rubbing the tips of his finger feathers against her. "You're going to be something really special."
He stood up, but then he winced violently and sank back into the chair.
The peachick girl raised her head in fright. "Does it hurt again?"
The white peacock rubbed his hip with his beak lips pressed together. That damn old injury. It hurt so terribly. It was a miracle that his leg still worked at all. He almost lost it. His eyes darkened. He owed him everything.
"No, not really," he reassured her, putting on a pained smile. "There is nothing. I'm just tired." At the next moment, there was a loud boom.
"Dad!" Panicked, she jumped onto his lap and stuck her head into his shirt.
The white peacock immediately wrapped his wings around her. "Everything is okay. Nothing can happen to you." He waited until the thunder had completely died down. Then he rose and walked with her, hobbling, to the fire. "Fear not. A thunderstorm can't harm me. Because I'm the Lord of Light." He threw a bit of powder into the fire, causing a colored sparkle with a quiet crackling sound. "I'm able to make colored lightning appear in the sky at any time. And they are far more powerful than what's out there." They stared at the jumping colored fire for a while. The girl wasn't afraid. It even seemed to calm her down.
She pressed herself closer to him. The white peacock wrapped his wings tighter around her, as if protecting her from an approaching disaster.
"I wish mom was here," she finally said quietly.
The white peacock's expression darkened again. "Me too."
How much do you think I would like to have her here? But I couldn't protect her. Not with my old wounds enslaving my body.
Both of them jumped. Something banged against the door. He quickly set her down on the floor.
"Hide!" he ordered.
Quickly, the chick crawled under a wooden box while the white peacock hobbled to the locked window. He opened the shutter a crack and looked outside at the front door. But there was nothing outside. Only the strong gusts of wind that moved the area. And it started to rain. Only a tree branch lay in front of the entrance, which had been blown against the door by the wind.
"You can come out again," he said finally, after making sure that no one had actually sneaked up nearby. "It was just the wind."
The peachick girl quickly left her hiding place, ran towards him and snuggled up to him. Gently, he stroked her small, trembling body.
"Dad?" the peachick girl asked after a while. "Are we safe here?"
He raised his head with a serious expression. "Certainly. I'll take care of that."
His eyes wandered to the wall where there was a drawing of a black and white bear. He knelt down to the chick. She didn't move from her spot and looked at him intently. The white peacock first looked at her face, then pointed to the wall. "If you ever see this creature," the peachick girl now also looked at the drawing, "then run to me as fast as you can." He slowly lowered his wing, clenching it into a fist. "And I will fight him as best I can." He rubbed his injured leg again. "Did you understand that?"
The chick looked at him again and nodded obediently.
"But what about the creatures that killed mum?" she asked cautiously. "How will I recognize them?"
His face turned to stone. "Don't forget. We are not allowed to meet anyone. Anyone can come after us." His wings clenched around her. "That's why you can't trust anyone out there. And you will do that until you are old enough." He pushed his finger feather under her chin and lifted her head slightly. "Because one day you will never have to be afraid of anything anymore." His expression darkened again.
One day you will understand. And one day you will become a strong warrior to complete my victory. But until then, I will protect you as best I can.
A bitter smile crossed his face.
Yes, I will protect you from my greatest enemy.
From a warrior - of black and white.