The Last Chance

5. Slowly Humiliation

The rhino took the chains from the wall, but not away from Shen. But the peacock took it easy. Or he had been accepted it.
Po followed him with his eyes. Shen gave him a last gloating glance, satisfied to leave the panda with open questions. Then he let conduct away from the guard out of the cell. Po walked behind them. He scrutinized Shen, but the lord seemed to be unafraid. He didn't plead for mercy or more time. He didn't struggle or said a word. He walked the way like it would be the most normal in the world.
Po didn't believe that the lord wouldn't rather come out of here. But otherwise there was no way of escaping. Not even he could change it. Like Shifu said, it was a done deal.
Together they walked through the corridor to a side room. The thick metal door opened and they entered a room with stone walls, hanging chains from the ceiling and other instruments made of wood and metal. Po looked around reverently. Shen showed himself unimpressed and watched all with neutral glance.
Master Storming Ox and Master Croc stood already in the middle of the room and talked with another ox who was a much beefy condition than Master Ox. Po eyed the giant with big eyes.
"Wow, aren't you "Wei" the dark ox from the Mountains of Fear?"
The bigger ox snorted proudly. "I came from far away after somebody told me there is a special job for me."
"Are you related to him?" Po asked and pointed at Master Ox.
"From a far-away family part."
Po was impressed. "Wow. It's a pleasure to see you."
With that he bowed with deep respect.
"So, this is your candidate," Master Ox said and pointed at Shen. "He is also pleased to meet you."
The ox looked at the still proud standing lord. With heavy footsteps the ox came closer and cracked his hooves.
Shen smiled. "Nice outfit. Are you his grandmother?"
And looked at Master Ox.
Po chuckled secretly.
Suddenly, an ax slammed on the floor like from nowhere and missed millimeters Shen's beak and tiptoes.
Po became pale and faltered. Master Croc caught him at the last second.
Shen didn't move a single muscle, just his smile was gone.
"So, are you going to cut me?" the lord asked with businesslike voice. "How unimaginative."
A nasty grin played on the ox's face. "I wonder whether you will make your jokes when I pull your feathers."
He moved his hoof-fingers threateningly. Shen watched him with a warning look.
A quick movement...
"Ouch!"
The ox held a feather of his wing in his hoof.
"Don't dare do it again!" Shen hissed.
"Oh, did it hurt?" the ox jeered.
Shen sighed angrily.
"Ouch!"
Again the ox had pulled a feather.
Wei giggled. "Imagine what feel it will be over your whole body. Feather by feather."
Shen's face was stony. Everybody knew the fun was over. Shen folded together his wings a little. That bastard dared to take his most pride.
Po swallowed. "Um... er... Interesting method. But don't you think it's a little... hard?"
"Shut up, panda!" Shen hissed. "I don't need stupid words like from you. I don't care."
The tormentor laughed. "Of course not."
Po sighed with relief.
"The next step will be more painful, don't worry. We have a nice program."
Po became pale under his fur. Just Shen didn't say a word. His body seemed to be like stone, his eyes directed on the floor. Po looked at him with helpless look. The peacock had still a little chance to regret. Just maybe. But Po guessed that Shen would never do so. He was as proud as a... a peacock.
"Do what you want to do," were the only words what the lord had to say.
Two rhino guards encircled him. The ox reared up himself in front of Shen. Shen looked up at him. There was no fear, no emotion in his glance. The ox grabbed the lord's robe and let if fall again.
"Take it off. You will not need it anymore," he talked to the two guardians.
Shen tensed immediately when they grabbed his wings. The ox drew a knife and damaged his silver robe more.
The peacock screamed in protest when they took off his damaged robe which had given him his last pride. But the guards were much stronger than him and managed after several tries to pull down the white silver cloth from his body.
"How can you dare?!" Shen screamed.
Po didn't know whether he should look away or not. The feathers still covered the lord's body, but it was humiliation what these guys did to him. Po decided to hold a paw over the half of his face to avoid Shen's evil with rage filled eyes.
"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!" Shen shouted.
The ox showed himself unimpressed and threw the robe into a corner.
"Nice." He grabbed the peacock's neck and lifted him up a little while the other guards held the rest of the body down. "Save your loud voice. You will have time to use it later."
"Uhm," Po stuttered. "In this case, I will go now. I have sensitive ears. Very sensitive."
Meanwhile, Shen had recovered from that and had called back his pride.
"No matter," he said with calmer superciliously voice. "It had been old."
Despite all, the peacock placed an ugly weird smile on his beak. "Are you enjoying this, panda?"
Po took down his paw and looked at him with sad eyes. "No, I'm sorry..."
Shen leaned back his head and laughed. "Sorry? Why so blamed? I hope, you will never forget it. I will hunt you through your dreams until you make your last breath on this stupid damn earth."
Po couldn't say why, but he thought to hear fear in his voice. As if he tried to be ready for what will come next.
"Well, after we have amused ourselves, we will come to our program," the ox Wei interrupted.
Shen cramped when the guards dragged him away. He tensed his muscles as well as he could, as if he tried to take away all feelings and nerves out of his body. He knew he had to be strong now. But he didn't know whether he would stand it long. He was still too weak to have inner strength completely.
He was stretched out with chains around his wings and feet like before in his cell. But the ox stretched it more than usual. Shen took a deep breath when he was ready with that.
"So cramped?" Wei asked in surprise. "You have to relax if you want to enjoy it."
He held out long tongs. Shen eyed it shortly and looked away. His claws firmly into the stone floor. His eyes were only focused on Po's face. He wanted to show him, he was strong. This black-white creature became his doom. His enemy shouldn't have the triumph to break his will. Also not his body, which was doomed with the beginning of his birth.
The ox clacked the tongs several times near Shen's ears before he moved it to the side playfully and grabbed with that one of Shen's finger feathers. A fast pulling...
Shen didn't want to scream. He pressed his beak lips together when he pulled the feather out. He was near to curse these fools around him, who took his majesty more and more away from him.
"Nothing to say?" the ox said with played sorrow. "Maybe it was the wrong point."
His eyes wandered behind Shen's back. Shen perceived it and narrowed his eyes warningly.
Don't you dare.
But the ox dared it. He walked behind the peacock and grabbed some of his long red white patterned feathers.
"Nice stuff. I wish I could hang it into my room."
Shen growled, his glance still ahead.
The ox jiggled it.
"Do you allow me?"
The lord closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"I think it's a "yes"."
He added his pulling. Shen's body tensed more. A muffled shout came from him as one of his beautiful feathers left his tail.
Master Ox became impatient. He wanted to hear painful screams from that murderer of Master Thundering Rhino.
"Take it all!" he ordered.
"But..." Po started to say, but his "buts" were ignored when the ox Wei pulled one long feather of the peacock tail after another. With every pulled feather, Po recognized a very little tear in the peacock's eyes.
The lord breathed harder, jerked shortly, but found the control again. Ignored the pain, dumped his nerves.
Po was impressed of the lord's self-control. Did he train it? Shen had effort to avoid screaming and let out all his anger and rage on the panda through his eyes..
Po was filled with blame more and more. He couldn't stand his glance any longer. If he could do nothing, he wanted to give the lord the chance to feel free to stand it alone without his presence at least. And with that, he ran outside wordlessly.