The Lion and the Peacock

Gongmen City Jail

Gongmen Tower

Dawn at arrived at Gongmen City. The sun was just beginning to crest the horizon. The yellow and golden rays of light turned the water a pretty light pink. The wind blew slowly and calmly, blowing away any remnants of midnight fog from the harbor city. On any other day, this would be a beautiful day to maybe take a walk on the beach or a peaceful ride in a small boat. But there was no such time for that.

Lord Shen stood quietly in the throne room of the palace, on the the top floor of the tower. In front of him sat the golden peacock throne, which his father and his father and his father had sat upon for generations. "My father's throne," He said quietly, staring at the intricate design in every feather of the throne, "he used to let me play here, right beside him, promising one day that this throne would be mine." The peacock reveled in the memory.

"What do you want us to do with it?" A burly gorilla asked, gesturing towards the throne.

"Toss it." Shen said, with a dismissive flick of his wrist.

And with that, the priceless golden throne was thrown from the highest window in the palace. Shen did not bother seeing what happened to it once it reached the bottom. Shen watched with gleeful pride as a pair of large gorillas hauled one of his weapons up the stairs and into the throne room, "Put it on the center pedestal, where the throne once was." Shen whispered, his eyes growing wide as the weapon grew larger as the gorillas hauled it closer.

The gorillas silently obeyed, placing the cannon in the center of the room. "A little to the left." Shen gestured.

"Ah, but it is so heavy, master!" One of the gorillas complained.

Shen scowled, "I have waited an eternity for this moment. I want it exactly as I envisioned it! And I envisioned it a little to the left!" He ordered. The gorillas did not say anything, and silently adjusted the position of the weapon.

"With the weapon by my side," Shen gestured behind him, but stopped suddenly, "A little bit more!" He said to the gorillas. They obeyed wordlessly. "Perfect." Shen commented, "With the weapon by my side, all of China will bow at my talons. We move out in three days, when the moon is full and the tide is high!" He ordered.

With a laugh, Shen turned to the side and caught sight of the Soothsayer. She was sitting near a corner of the room and had her little trinkets and fortune-telling objects gathered around her. The white peacock narrowed his eyes and stalked towards her, "Now, you old goat, why don't you tell me my-"

"Fortune?" The Soothsayer asked. Shen stopped in his tracks, looking at her,

"F-future. I was going to say future. Look into your little bowl there. Tell me what glory awaits." He grinned evilly. The Soothsayer nodded quietly. The older goat began to hum quietly,

"If you continued along your current path," Her eyes rolled upwards and back into her head. Shen's interest and curiosity piqued, and he descended down the stairs to approach her. "You will find yourself at the bottom of the stairs." She said blatantly. Shen stopped suddenly, his foot touching the bottom of the steps. He huffed in annoyance before walking towards her. "I see...I see.." She looked deep into Shen's eyes, "I see pain."

Shen yelped in surprise when a feather from his wing was yanked painfully off. But the elderly goat didn't stop, "I see anger." She lurched forward and took bite out of the white peacock's robes, resulting in him growling in anger, "How dare you!" He seethed, "This is the finest silk in the province!"

"Followed by denial," Soothsayer predicted. Shen glared at her,

"This is not fortune telling! You are just saying what is happening right-"