. Honor and Glory - Prologue .

Prologue

      His recovery came sooner than he expected. For five months, he was stuck with the smelly heap of dried grass and wood that turned out to be his bed, lying down and staring at the ceiling of the abandoned house that seemed long forgotten. Now, he could finally feel his wings and legs. He stood up, his expensive robe no longer clothed his body, and was replaced by an old, soil-scented cloth his nanny called a robe. His eyes averted from his body to the distant areas covered with trees and lush grass.

      This place remained as it was, he thought. His eyes traversed the familiar scenery. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time he set foot there, but there is one thing. The pandas are no more, for good. His silver beak drew an evil smirk, only to be shattered by the memory of a certain panda destroying him and his plans to take over Gongmen City. The day he was defeated by the prophesized warrior of black and white was still fresh in his mind. One panda lived, and it was that one panda who destroyed him. He clenched his wing and narrowed his eyes at the thought of losing everything: his luxury, his army, and his finest inventions. Even his blades, his main weapons, were gone and the metal that protected his talons is no longer there. They were all gone with the wind, together with his ambition to reclaim what is his.  His disbelief almost drove him mad.

        "You haven't recovered yet. Stay still and lie down." The familiar voice shook his nearly deranged mind. Her voice surprised him. He turned to a small space near his bed where he saw an elderly goat in front of a crackling campfire. "You might want to fill your stomach with something hot for a while".

        She handed him a peasant's cup filled with tea that was always familiar with his nose. The old goat always drank this kind of tea and its scent does not please him one bit.

        "I cannot drink that! Only a peasant drinks that!" He turned away from her, crossing his wings and sticking his head up as if a servant had just displeased him.

        She was his servant. She was, and no longer is.

        "Very well. You're still stubborn as you always was, Shen."

        He did not mind her comment. He was about to speak when his stomach rumbled.

        "Pitiful." She replied and handed him the tea.

        "Give me that!" He harshly took the tea from her hands and drank it fast, and his tongue burned at the hot drink. "Ouch!!" The dirt-covered peacock yelped in pain "I hate that tea! It smells like soil, just like this—filthy—robe!"

        The soothsayer took the cup from his wing and went back to where she was seated before. "Then go change to your normal robes. That is, if you still have any." She replied in an indifferent voice.

        Her comment only annoyed him. He slowly stood up and angrily headed to a nearby river.

        "Where do you think you're going?" She called out to him.

        "I'm gonna take a freaking bath, you old goat. And this—this thing you call a robe will be bathing with me!" He shouted back.


        The peacock was halfway submerged in the cold water when he took off his dirty robe and placed it on the bank. After which, he relieved his hot feathers and finally washing off the dirt that accumulated on his down for a while.

        "That's better…" he sighed. He looked around the area and examined the place. He couldn't deny how beautiful and peaceful the place seemed to be. The gray clouds gave the place an extra calming feeling. It was quiet, even if it wasn't supposed to be. However, the silence gave him a new kind of comfort and as he watched the distance, his mind wandered off somewhere.

      The cannon was a mere few inches away from him when he snapped out of it. Before it literally crushed him, he was able to jump to the river. However, the impact of the explosion sent him drifting away to a distant range, the cheers of the people of Gongmen City slowly fading, until he heard no more.

         He woke up to find himself in an abandoned house with the soothsayer beside him. He was covered in bandages and couldn't move.

         Much to his horror, he was paralyzed.

         He mustered so much strength every day, simply trying to move even an inch of his muscle but to no avail. It went on for months until he was able to gradually free himself from paralysis. He was a strong peacock. He always was, and he was very confident about it. He knew he survived death a million times before. How is now any different? Now, if he could only find the right time and strength he would definitely conquer---


"Shen!" For the second time that day, the soothsayer took his attention from his fantasies to reality.

        "What?!" He replied in an irritated voice.

        "It's getting cold. Get off the water and wear this" She showed him a cleaner set of robes that he had no idea where she got. "You still need acupuncture treatment" she added.

        "W-Why didn't you tell me you had another set of that?" He angrily shouted as he walked to the bank.

        "You needed a bath." She grinned and handed the robes to him.

        "W-well, look away!" Shen embarrassingly retorted. The old goat chuckled and looked away as Shen got out of the water and put on his new set of robes.


        Shen examined the needles that stuck out of his skin. It wasn't painful, but his actions were limited "Tell me, soothsayer. How did I get here?" Shen wondered, not even bothering to look at his nanny.

        The soothsayer suddenly froze.

        "Well?" He asked again, this time, turning his attention to her.

        "I saved you. I saw you floating along the river but checking, you still had pulse but it was weak. I took you in this house so I could nurse you back to health." She replied, not bothering to turn around to look at him. Shen was puzzled about her behavior, but shrugged it off nonetheless.

        "What happened after the explosion?" He added.

        "The people cheered, of course. Everything was back to normal and the Masters' Council resumed stewardship over Gongmen City."

        Shen cringed at the mention of the council and his indifferent face slowly turned sour.