Author's note: What can I say? I didn't get a lot of inspiration for this beyond the first chapter, but now I do, and I will write more because I love this franchise.

Chapter 2: Dark Rebirth

A week after subjection to the smog and disorienting nightmares had drained away any smugness Shen had retained when he had first come to Junfa's door. A month later, and Shen's throat felt dryer than rice paper. So much soot and smoke had cleared his body, but also left it ruined. Having gotten used to breathing in such horrible substances, now he could breathe normal air perfectly. Unknown to him, it was also a mix of herbs that Junfa had made him inhale all throughout the beginning of his training. After explaining to his mentor what had happened, Shen had been eager to move on to the next stage.

"It is admirable that you chose to ask for more, when we have not even begun your training" commented Junfa on his throne, drinking another jug of water thirstily.

Dressed in his black rusting armour, Junfa half hobbled towards the patch of clear ground in his Oil Wastelands, and adjusted himself. A rhino got down on all fours several meters in front of the peacock. A cocky gleam entered his eyes, all too pleased to kill the peacock that had treated him so badly.

Junfa didn't move until the last movement, jumping up and pushing his feet down into the rhino's head. The momentum of the charge, aimed downwards, broke the creature's neck, and Junfa landed on the still warm corpse. "That is how you fight these brutes. Speed, stealth, craftiness. Use your own enemies strength against them. Now, I will show you speed." Walking to a different part of his lands with the peacock and his gathering, the warlord told them to stand back. Above, several cranes, owls and other birds wielded sharp bladed weapons.

"Drop!" he ordered, and the blades flew down from high up, fast enough to skewer anything in their way. Junfa looked up and swerved, ducked and rolled, avoiding the falling the blades and weaving his wave through the gaps, sometimes knocking away a blade on purpose. As the last wave of weapons fell he picked one up and threw it into the sky, sticking into the heart of a crane which squawked and fell slowly. Shen was in awe, until a blade skimmed over his face, leaving a thin cut. He cried out and clapped a hand to the trickle of blood. Junfa walked towards him among the broken knives.

"You want that power, don;t you? You want to be as quick as the wind, and light as a feather. To dig under your opponent's guard and exploit the tender weakness Answer!" he yelled to his protege, and Shen grovelled in the dirt.

"I do, Master."

"Now you have shown me genuine respect and awe, I will share my knowledge of kung fu."

Both birds sat cross-legged in the room, facing each other with eyes closed. "I was at peace, once. My armour, crafted by the same smith who made Flying Rhino's, gave me power and prestige, an outer demonstration of my inner peace. When that foolish thug defeated me, I broke inside. You are on a reversed path to mine, Shen. I had attained inner peace, and lost it. You will perhaps never have it, because already darkness holds your heart. So, now you meditate, and find focus within yourself. I have scoured your soul clean, although it does not seem it, and now you must not waste my efforts. I will return at night time."

Shen grunted and heaved, moving the gears around by hand. In front and behind him were similar workers, all wearing the same rags as him and doing the same turning movement with the large machine. Here, he was not Lord Shen of Gongmen City, but just Shen, lost soul. By day he worked as a peasant, and by night he meditated.

Unbeknownst to both of them, it was not working. After a few days of working like this, Shen had given up and now thought up ways of utilising his new found wisdom. He was getting stronger thanks to the manual labour, but he felt his body tremble at the oddest times. Was it worth it? Did he really have to go all through this for some crazed peacock defeated by someone his inferior?

Pausing in his meditation, he went and found Junfa playing mahjong with himself, turning the board every now and then to take the place of the different sides. As the door opened, he saw Shen and beckoned the peacock in, although the Warlord frowned. "Given up on your meditating?"

"I want to know when you'll actually teach me kung fu. I feel my body cracking, and breaking. It wants me to stop, and I want that feeling to stop. If you will not teach me, then say so, but do not leave me in this quasi-neutral state. Teach me, or not, just tell me the truth!"

"And why should I? You think the truth will help you through life? You think I could do all this in one week? You need to work hard, Shen, and your body is just an excuse. Boo hoo, my body is weak. Boo hoo, my family doesn't love me. Those are excuses, and weakness. When your opponent is coming at you there is no time for weakness! Do you understand you pathetic little peachick?"

"You will address me as Lord Shen."

"Insolent fool! You are not royalty here, Shen. You are my servant, my underling. Your life is worth as little as the lost souls down below toiling away just to have some grasp of usefulness. I am your saviour. I make you all useful, the only one who would. You want special treatment? Too bad."

"I am not a worker, and my life is not worthless! I must have been stupid to think you could teach me. You couldn't even defeat Flying Rhino. You are a disgrace."

Speechless at this gall, Junfa turned the mahjong game around and moved a piece, thoughtful now. He'd broken the peacock, but now he had come back stronger, and was doubting his way of life. What to do now…

"My fighting style is based on a heavy based form of Aikido, redirecting the opponent's strength thanks to my unity with the Universe. However, it appears you are set for a different style, one more flashy, but no less lethal. It will require speed, however, and daring. You must be willing to face your opponent and attack close in, at great risk to yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Warlord Junfa."

"We will see."

Author's note: Junfa attained inner peace, and combined aikido (A proper martial art about dodging and avoiding) with the 'one with the universe dew drop' thing. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter, I've been watching KFP Legends of Awesomeness recently so I'm inspired again. Sort of.