A prophecy.

Fire, burning a village to the ground.

The clanging of metal, forged into a weapon like no other.

A Peacock rising to power.

His fall to a warrior of Black and White.

They were on a boat. The warrior said something about choice.

He didn't listen. His weapon fell on top of him-

Shen awoke from his chambers in a cold sweat. He had just had a dream- no, a vison- of the future? The peacock shook his head. Whatever it was, he should forget about it. Dreams were just that: dreams, which held no power over him.

Still, it disturbed him that his dream had been so vivid, almost as if it were a memory. He pondered if he should bring this dream up to the soothsayer. He decided against it; the old goat had far more important matters to deal with than fantasies of the prince.

Besides, Shen had more important matters to deal. He had finished his plans for a better firework last night, one that launched farther without giving up power. With this, he was one step closer to turning his family's invention into a force to be reckoned with; no more would warriors have to fight hand-to-hand, instead battles could be won from a distance.

The heir to Gongmen took his plans in wing and went to the throne room where his parents, the leaders of the city, were. Shen stopped at the door, however, when he heard the sounds of his parents talking to someone. The albino ducked into the room and behind a pillar, looking over to see them talking with the soothsayer.

"Please tell us, what is the fate of our son?" asked the king.

Taking a look in her scrying bowl, smoke rose from it to reveal whatever was in store for Shen.

"If Shen continues down this dark path," said the Soothsayer, a silhouette of the albino prince appearing from the bowl, "He will be defeated by a warrior of Black and White." The image changed into that of the Ying and Yang, overtaking Shen's form.

"But, as always, that is but one possibility," the old goat said. "Fate can be changed, though not everyone is as open to it."

Shen was freaking out internally. The prophecy he had just heard was exactly like the one from his dreams. The was no way that he had subconsciously thought of the same prophecy; he had not been dreaming, he had seen the future. His future.

Shen slowly walked out from his hiding spot. "Mother. Father. Soothsayer," The prince said, surprising the three of them. "There is something I must tell you."

[***]

After Shen had explained his dream, the Soothsayer told him that many people had dreams similar to his own, but very few know what they actually mean until it's too late.

"I'm glad that you told us about your vision, Shen," the goat said, "for this means that you understand the possibility of what may happen if you tried to stop this by yourself."

"Yes. My own destruction," Shen said, "if I act now, then I'll just cause my vision to become a reality." The peacock looked at the soothsayer, "I don't want to become what I saw in my dream. That person was cold and ruthless, and without reason. I want to protect our city, not take over China."

"It's also foolhardy to think that a panda would be a major threat to you," the king of Gongmen said, "their kind is so peaceful that the thought of one of them defeating you, a trained practitioner of Ka Li Fo, is almost laughable."

"I won't underestimate them, dear," said the queen, "many masters of Kung Fu are unassuming from looks alone, but hold great power within."

"Still, I am glad that you thought this through," the soothsayer said.

"As am I," Shen said, "if I hadn't talked to you, I may have made the same mistakes as those in my vision."

The calm of the throne room was interrupted by a messenger bursting through the doors of the room, the goose obviously out of breath.

"Your majesties, I bring urgent news," said the goose, falling on the floor panting.

"Well, tell us what you bring," said the king.

"Smoke has been sighted to the north of the city, sire," said the messager, "near the panda village."

"Oh no. No. NO!" Shen said, panic rising in his voice, "this is my fault! I caused this to happen!"

"Son, you've been with us the whole time," said his mother, "you have nothing to do with this."

Shen looked at his parents, fear in his eyes. "No, somehow I caused this. It was my vision where this very event happened; now I need to fix it."

Not heading the pleas of his parents and the soothsayer, Shen ran out of the palace and towards the smoke in the distance, hoping that he wasn't too late.

[***]

The village was burning by the time Shen got there, with wolves running around setting buildings on fire and slaughtering any pandas they found. Shen quickly jumped into the fray, using his Guan Dao to slice at wolves and throwing his knives at those that were farther away. He was fighting a losing battle, however, as with each wolf he downed, two pandas were killed.

By the time Shen got to the other end of the village, most of the wolves were clutching their wounds and retreating or left to die in the fire. Shen came across the sight of what he assumed to be the pack's leader standing over the body of a female panda. Just as he was about to bring his war hammer down on her head, Shen jumped in the way, blocking the weapon with his own.

It was then that Shen got a good look at the attacker's face. "Captain?" Shen said in shock, recognizing the wolf as head of the palace guards. The peacock's expression quickly turned to rage, "Why are here? Why did you do this?"

"All of this was for you, my Lord," said the Wolf Boss. "After I heard the prophecy from the other room, I gathered those most loyal to you and lead the assault. Your legacy must be upheld, Shen."

The peacock looked at him, pure rage on his face. "I never asked for this, I didn't want to cause a genocide of completely innocent people." Without warning, Shen swiped at Wolf Boss with one of his knives, slicing at the wolf's left eye. The captain of the guard fell down in pain as the peacock stood over him. "Let that be a reminder of what happens when you think you know what's best for me. I'm the master of my own fate, I won't let you or anyone else decide it for me. Now go, or else it won't just be your eye you'll be missing."

At that, Wolf Boss ran off, still clutching his eye as the rest of the pack retreated into the unknown. Shen looked down at the panda behind him. She was bleeding severely, most likely from the claws and teeth of the wolves. Shen could tell she wouldn't make it. However, crying from nearby attracted his attention. On the ground was a panda cub, less than a year old, cradled in cloth on the ground. Shen understood what had happened to this woman; the mother was trying to flee with her son, but couldn't protect herself in the process.

Picking up the baby, Shen took a glance at the fallen mother, the life already gone from her eyes. "I'll make sure he's safe, far away from Gongmen," the peacock prince said. Fining a nearby wagon of food, Shen hid the baby in the radishes, hoping that he made it somewhere safe from the wolves. As an afterthought, Shen left one of his tail feathers, which had been frayed from the battle, with the cub.

"May the gods favor you wherever you end up, young one," Shen said solemnly. As he left to go back to the city, a lone figure sat watching the prince from the trees, eyes filled with intrigue and hope. Maybe this was the person he was looking for.

Author's Note

Hello readers, this is The Dragon Saver! Up to now I've been writing in the Zootopia universe, but I decided to take a break and jump into the world of Kung Fu Panda for a new story.

Despite only having limited experience with the franchise as a whole, the character of Shen fascinated me. If he had just made different decisions, he could have become a great leader of his people instead of a ruthless warlord. This story is about his journey if he didn't try to stop the prophecy, though Shen is going to need more allies if he is to continue on the path of a hero.

I'll need you, the reader's help, on this story as well. Most of my knowledge of the series is taken more from the wiki and other online sources, so any character interactions or events that seem off should be noted in a review so that I can make this story the best it can be.

Also, don't expect this story to be updated as frequently as my other story. At most there may be a chapter or two a week.

Next time: Shen meets a warrior that is both his equal and opposite. What will become of their encounter?