Hello, this is just a little story. It plays shortly after Shen's banishment and after he had killed the pandas (he thought he had killed all of them). And maybe you have a guess about who the story will be, too. I've got the idea after a KFP fan wrote something about Po's mother, that she was killed most probably. Well, Li Shan didn't seem to find her dead body, but of course, DreamWorks wanted to show in the last scene with her, that she was killed by Shen and the wolves. (At least, I think so. ^^') But what if something went wrong? Not while Shen was killing her, but what if something other went wrong in the aftermath?
It's a slight sequel of "Kill them all!" where Shen had threw baby Po into the river with the cart.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon and cooled off the land even more than it already was. In China, the land of the rising sun, not only the light, but also the joie de vivre seemed to disappear in one spot. Over in the outskirts of the province, the jewel by the sea, Gongmen City, was in a depressed mood that nobody dared to describe. No laughter filled the air, no party cheered the mood. Nobody seemed to want to know anything about life anymore. Only grief and pain determined the thinking of the animals living there. When the heavy gate of the city finally closed, there was no sigh of relief. The person who had caused all the suffering was evicted, but the agony remained in the country. He didn't take anything on his way. Only shame and blame. Silent and bitter, the troop walked through the outskirts of the city, marched through the lonely areas of their former homeland. Even the forests and mountains seemed to be silent around them, as if they were accompanying them with their invisible eyes and only shaking their heads at this wicked heap.
It was still winter. Light snowflakes fell from the sky, clinging to fur and feathers. The white peacock who led this pack bowed his head gratefully for the insight of nature. No one saw the tear on his cheek that he had tried to suppress but couldn't stop. He held the long lance sword firmly in his wings. The day he thought he would be showered with honor had turned brutally into the opposite.
Lord Shen, the future ruler of Gongmen City, was banished. Forever. Never again would he step his feet on the floor of the home he had known from childhood. The same ground on which he had learned to walk and grew into an adult man. The same house where mother and father gave him birth and raised him.
The white lord smashed a bare branch with his sword that stood in his way.
He had wanted to make them proud! He thought he did everything right. Why was that wrong? Somebody always died in war. There were always victims. But his parents hadn't understood anything. They never understood what he wanted in life!
At that moment, Lord Shen himself didn't know what he wanted exactly. What did he want? Affection? Respect? Or both? Or even more? That he was no longer the weak child from back then? He had been entitled to the throne, but there was something else that had left a void in him. Basically, he had everything he wanted. Only something was missing. And he had wanted it with all his might. Even if he had to step over corpses. In the literal sense.
He wanted to find a way to this goal. But something should stop him.
A warrior. A warrior in black and white. A panda.
The lord's eyes wandered into the neighboring forest, where light billows of smoke rose into the sky.
Everything had taken place down there. The great massacre that everyone was talking about now and that caused deep horror in everyone.
The white peacock stopped when something caught his eye between the trees. It was the part of the forest that was farther away from the river. The white lord remembered he had killed the last panda animal there. But not at this point.
The peacock raised his wing and the wolves stopped. He waved a one-eyed wolf over and nodded his head down between the trees.
"Look to see what's going on down there," the peacock ordered grimly. Although he had been told to leave the country as soon as possible, it was still his right to set the pace.
The wolf quickly disappeared into the snow-covered underbrush. And it took less than one minute for him to return.
With a big leap, he stopped in front of the peacock. "Master Shen. It's one of the pandas."
Shen jerked his head up. "A panda?"
"But almost dead," the wolf gave in quickly.
Shen's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean with "almost dead"?"
The wolf cleared his throat. "Well, it looks like she will be on the way out. I don't think that we have to be worried about..."
"I judge that!" Shen cut him off. "And I'll be the one who brings it to an end."
He brandished his lance sword and scurried down the slope. Shortly before the goal, he slowed down and walked slowly towards the thing between the trees, holding his sword in front of him.
The snow crunched under his clawed feet, but he tried to avoid any noise by creeping on even slower.
He pushed aside the branches that blocked his view and saw a black and white body in a clearing. It was really a panda. Quite a large panda, wearing a dress.
Shen's eyes narrowed. Then he recognized the female panda, whom he had followed into the deep woods at the very end.
How did she get here? That was no longer the place where he had executed her with his sword.
The former prince of Gongmen City craned his neck and saw a trail of blood behind the she-bear.
Had she dragged herself until here on her own?
He narrowed his eyes in anger.
Hadn't he stabbed hard enough? Pandas had a dense, thick "fur". The wolves naturally knew how to snatch a prey. But he was a peacock with no instinct for killing. Except when it came to defending himself. And he had defended himself. Because a warrior in black and white should defeat him.
The peacock left his hiding place and approached the lying panda on the ground. He circled her. She was lying on her stomach, her face hidden in her elbows.
The peacock looked down at her contemptuously.
"Just because of you rabble, I'm standing here now!" He hissed and lowered the tip of his sword to her. He pushed the metal between her paws, but in such a way that he didn't injure her. He gently pushed her arms aside and lifted the panda's chin with the tip.
She moved a little and even mouthed a few barely audible words.
The lord didn't care what she said. He just wanted to end it as soon as possible to plan his revenge campaign against all of China. Everyone should bow before him. Even his parents. Everyone should crawl in the dust before him. And anyone who resisted should be destroyed.
Shen lifted his foot and pressed the panda's shoulder so that she lay on her side.
A large stain of blood appeared in the snow below her. But the lord felt no pity for her suffering. He looked down at her coldly. It was really the same panda mother - he was disgusted to refer to this creature as a mother – who had wanted to hide the baby panda from him.
The lord snorted in satisfaction. He had quickly eliminated this problem and had drowned it in the river.
The white peacock giggled maliciously. "So, you really thought you could escape me?" He pressed the tip of the sword on the panda woman's chest. "How foolish of you."
When the panda felt the sharp sword, she winced a little and raised her arm weakly.
The white peacock crouched and took a defensive position. But the female panda didn't stand up. She was far too weak for that.
Holding the sword as a protection in front of him, the peacock stepped closer to her, trying to look her directly in the face.
Last night, he barely had a chance to look into his enemies' eyes directly, right before he had killed them. However, these were closed.
The lord let out an irritated growl. He wanted to look into her eyes. She should see who was going to steal her life.
When he was about to yell at her, she blinked. Shen narrowed his eyes and glared at her angrily. Just as he had made the decision to cut her shoulder, her eyes traveled up to him. The white lord caught her gaze. The eye contact made the lord pause in his plan. It wasn't that long ago that his own mother had looked at him with exactly the same eyes. He had only noticed this in passing, because he had concentrated on his father's anger, but he had not forgotten the look that his mother had given him at that moment. He'd tried to keep her eye contact, but she'd dodged him like a scared child.
The lord remained in his posture for a while. The panda's eyes had closed again. A few more seconds passed before the peacock let loose a loud peacock cry.

The lord let his glance wander over the barren landscape. Gongmen City's limit was far behind them. But he could still see the last mountain of his former home in the distance. On their way, they had found shelter in a decrepit village in the mountains. The houses were attached to the mountain slopes. Anyone who was not free from giddiness had no place here.
He raised his peacock comb when he heard footsteps on the creaking wooden floorboards of the covered sidewalk. The one-eyed wolf approached him in a hunched position. He still had fresh wounds from the fight in the panda village.
"What is our souvenir doing?" Shen asked flatly. It sounded from his mouth as if he were talking about an object that he was carrying around unnecessarily.
"She's still alive," the wolf reported. "Should I send someone downstairs?"
"No, I'll do that myself."
With these words, the white peacock turned to him and walked past him, his head held high.

The banished white peacock followed a few flights of stairs down to a carved cave into the rock. In some places the mountain had been used as living space, although this was more a cellar. The room was closed with a heavy wooden door. After a moment, Shen pushed the bolt aside and opened the door. It was dark inside; only a very tiny window provided light in this artificial night.
The chamber was empty, except for something lying on the floor against the wall.
Shen closed the door behind him and walked towards the thing on the floor. She lay nestled on a pile of straw. The white peacock leaned down and felt her paws. They were cold. With a derogatory snort, he went to a corner, where he took out a woolen blanket. Without shaking it, he threw the dusty part over her.
When he wanted to turn away again, he heard a cough.
He turned around. The creature had moved. The peacock ducked. He was ready for a fight if it had to be. It passed a while until the creature gradually rose a little and looked around.
Shen seized the moment of confusion and let out a malicious laugh.
"No, this is not the underworld," he began spitefully. "But you are close to it."
He leaned a little towards her. The black and white face that looked at him made a shiver down his spine. He unfolded his peacock's fan to show her his dominance.
The being began to tremble, which filled Shen with contented satisfaction. He laughed again and stood up proudly. "So you thought you could escape my annihilation, did you?" He let out a derogatory snort. "Nobody escapes my control."
His victim on the floor crawled deeper into the ceiling. "L-Lord Shen..." a woman's voice stuttered. "W-what have we... done to you?"
The peacock smiled in amusement. "You already asked me that when we met the last time... Although it should have been the last time."
He looked down at her hard-heartedly. He didn't want to give an answer to her question. He was the one who wanted an answer. He smiled coldly.
"Don't expect support from your own kind. They don't exist anymore." He leaned down a little. "You are still the last panda. - For now."
The panda woman slumped down. "Y-you will..."
"... pay for that?" the peacock finished the sentence straight away. "You don't have to worry about that anymore." His eyes darkened. "I was banned already." He turned away briefly. "And all because of you!"
Before the panda woman could reply, Shen cut her breath to say a word. "But I didn't let you breathe to discuss it with you!"
He lowered his long neck to her and looked sternly into her face. "The only reason you're still alive is because I want an answer from you."
The panda woman looked up at him, exhausted but also surprised. "A-an answer?"
"Why did you hide your child from me?" he snapped at her. But then his threat turned into a giggle. "Did you really think you could defeat me by all available means?"
The panda woman looked at him in horror. "H-how do you know...?"
"... about your brat?" Shen finished harshly. "Just tell me what made you risk your senseless life for your fluff ball? Just in hope that he will be the one who will defeat me later?"
The panda woman was so extremely confused and scared that she could hardly speak a word. "I – I don't know what you're talking about."
Shen giggled darkly. "Oh, you don't need to pretend. I know everything." He showed her his cold shoulder and glanced at her with a glee. "And just so you know - I eliminated it long ago."
He waited for a reaction. He wanted to see her get angry. At least her defeat would be his gain. But instead, the mother sank to the floor. The peacock wrinkled his beak and tapped his foot impatiently. "I'm waiting! - How did you plan to defeat me?! - But I'll see through your dark plans against me because I've already won!"
But instead of words, there was only a crying. Shen turned away in annoyance.
"Not very convincing," he growled darkly. "But if you think you can put it off forever..." He didn't finish the sentence, but he went to the door and opened it. But before he left the room, he looked over at her spitefully. "I'll give you respite until tomorrow. Answer or be silent. You will die anyway."
He didn't look at her. He just slammed the door and pushed the bolt violently.

Slowly, the white lord sharpened the long, wavy blade of his sword. Compared to his former home, his room was a shabby shack, but at least he had a roof over his head. This isolation gave him enough time to review what had happened. He raised his sword and looked at his reflection. It could be blood red again tomorrow at the earliest.
He grinned at the thought. If he wanted an answer, he wanted it right away. With anyone threatened with death, you got what you wanted immediately. Still, a spark of self-doubt hung over his mind. After talking to her, for a fraction of the time, he thought she was really harmless. But for him, it was just a beast in a sheepskin. He couldn't get the old goat's words out of his head. Did this panda creature know about it and wanted to make preparations with this child for his coming defeat? Or was it something called parental love after all?
Love.
He snorted. Many of whom he had met in his life had spoken of it.
He shook his head. All nonsense.
Love was something that his father had shown him least of all. That hypocrite.
All his life, he had trained him to be strong, and Shen had given everything to be strong. Even in the last kung fu fight, he had defeated his father. Albeit with an injury. Shen's temper just got away with him. He just couldn't hear all the calls to "show strength". In the end, Master Thundering Rhino had to intervene, otherwise he would only have done more damage to his father in his madness. What had become of him? Shen didn't know himself.
Finally, he put his sword aside and decided to stretch his feet a little.
On the way, he also passed the door where his female prisoner was. He was content to let her languish. She should suffer worse than he did. He soaked up the suffering of others like a sponge that turned it inside into happiness. But instead of an expected cry, he heard nothing.
A little disappointed, the bird turned away from the door. But then... he heard a soft chant.
He listened with interest. He couldn't understand any of the lyrics, but the humming sound suggested it was a soothing children's song.
Shen felt transported back to his childhood. His mother had sung him a song back then, too. The song of the rainbow colors. But after a while, he never wanted to hear it again. The color white did not appear in it. He'd hated it ever since. Still, she had sung something to him...
He shook his head and left again, and didn't come back until dawn.

Shen couldn't say he slept well, but at least it wasn't a nightmare filled sleep. And even if something had tormented him, he wouldn't show it to anyone anyway. So, he went down the wooden steps to the basement early in the morning and didn't show anything on the outside. He pushed the door open quickly and loudly. She winced. The panda woman knelt on the floor; her glance directed to the window as if she were praying.
Shen grinned. He always liked when others were scared of him. The whole thing of being harassed by others had to end for him forever. Everyone should show him respect.
He closed the door behind him. She hadn't turned to him yet. Instead, she was just sunk deeper into her hunched position.
The white peacock walked slowly towards the panda woman. He didn't necessarily think she was going to attack him, but as a precaution, he carried a dagger under his wing.
"Well, has the night cleared you enough to light me up?" he asked mockingly. "So? What's your answer?" He circled her like a wild animal lurking on her. "I just want an answer."
And then I'll deliver you from your existence and you can keep your brat company, he thought to himself.
"The answer..." she began hesitantly. "The answer is... I don't know..."
He flicked his dagger in front of her face. The panda woman was startled, but persevered.
"That's not an answer!" he snapped at her.
The panda woman swallowed hard. "The answer is, I don't know what exactly you want to hear. I... I can only speak as a mother. If you allow it."
The peacock's eyes trembled with anger, but he had to give in. Obviously, this creature was stupid enough and could not speak of its triumphant advance without its followers. Then he just had to be content with half an answer.
"All right." He withdrew the dagger again. "Then tell me your point of view."
The panda woman's hands trembled. Then, she gently raised her voice.
"I... I did it because of love..."
There was silence for a moment. Then, the peacock raised his head contemptuously. "Then your child seems to have met your requirements perfectly. Congratulations. But what was your plan that was supposed to cause me defeat?"
"Sir, I don't know of any plan against you..."
"That's even worse for you." He hissed, offended. "Because then I have to torture it out of you."
"I did what any mother and almost any parent would do!"
This time her voice was louder.
"So you adhere to your ridiculous excuse?"
"What would your parents have done if you had been threatened?"
This time, the statement addressed to him personally made Shen ponder for a moment. The last time something like this had happened was shortly after he was born, when the Komodo dragons had raided the city. Without saying anything, he just replied, "I wasn't fully developed to be enough for them." He quickly turned away from her. "You only get love when you are perfect. If you can even call it that."
"But there must be something that you can empathize with..."
"If they had loved me, they wouldn't have banished me!" His wings trembled.
The panda mother sighed heavily. "Maybe it was the only thing they could do."
The peacock gave her a disdainful sideways glance, then he giggled maliciously. "You come from the country. Ordinary people have no idea what kind of power the peacock clan possesses."
The panda woman lowered her gaze a little. "B-but Lord Liang is powerless even against the law." She took a short breath. "Maybe he just wanted to protect you."
The lord was silent, but you could see from his cramped shoulders that he was annoyed, yet the panda mother continued unhindered. "I abandoned my child. No matter where it goes, the important thing is that it is safe."
"Oh, really? My mother didn't abandon me to... hide me!" He avoided the word "protect". "She disowned me!"
The panda mother no longer knew what to say. Just now, she had to cope not only with the death of her husband, but also the death of her son. And Shen was talking himself into a rage, which never turned out well.
"A mother's love cannot be expressed in words," she tried to soothe him, but with that she did the exact opposite. Instead, the peacock turned angrily to her and pointed his wing menacingly at her.
"There is a clear answer for everything in the world! And your watered-down speech only proves...!"
The panda had raised her arms and had taken his outstretched wing in her paws. Shen felt a wave of panic for a moment, but it wasn't a firm grip. Her fingers gently cupped his feathers. The lord wanted to scold her and correct her, but then she pulled his wing closer to her face. There was a soothing low hum. There was that song again that she had sung last night. She nuzzled him. Ordinarily, Shen would be disgusted by that. But he was in a trance. The panda's eyes were filled with tears again, just as they had been when she tearfully gave her child one last kiss when she had told him goodbye. Again, Shen saw the tears in his own mother's eyes.
Finally, Shen jerked his wing away from her and hid it under his robe. She didn't stop him and let him withdraw. There was no demand, just a gentle letting go. Silence filled the room. Shen didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

"Master Shen?" the wolf said, after returning to Shen's room again. "We are ready to head west. We can set up quarters there. But what do we do with her?"
The white peacock was silent. He just looked out of the window and said nothing.
"Master?" The wolf asked again, believing that his master did not understand him. "What should we do with her?"
...
Nobody from outside found out what had happened in the exile. And Shen made sure that no one ever found it out either. Not even the child who later stood in front of him, who he had thrown into the river and later lied so profoundly in his face: "Your parents didn't love you."

- The End -

Translation from German into English by me. Correction by fanfiction.net user Starless echoes.