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I'd like to put this story up on FF, but since one of the central characters isn't on the character list, I'm not sure what to do about that. In the meantime, it'll have a home here.

Second Chance, a Kung Fu Panda fanfic

Chapter 1: Lonely, Broken Hero

Peng had just packed up his supplies for his next craft fair appearance and was ready to leave his tent that he called home. He had made a good profit at his previous craft fair appearance, having sold every item he came with that he intended to sell. But his time at that fair came at a price. While he was in town, Peng learned the truth about his uncle, Tai Lung. He had found out that the uncle he had been searching for had turned evil and wreaked havoc on the Valley of Peace all for being denied the Dragon Scroll and the title of Dragon Warrior. And he first heard this from the last person he would've expected to tell him: his friend Po, the one who eventually was named the Dragon Warrior. After everyone he asked in the village confirmed what Po had said to him and fearing that the darkness that caused his uncle's fall from grace could do the same thing to him, Peng had announced he was giving up kung fu and vowed never to do it again. Just the thought of kung fu made him feel uneasy, and he looked as though he never wanted anything to do with it ever again.
By sunset, Peng was well outside the village that was home of the Jade Palace and approaching another village that was still inside the Valley of Peace. He was exhausted from his long journey and was in need of a place to spend the night. After arriving in this village, which he had no knowledge of, Peng instantly started looking for an inn, or at least some place he could stay for the night. Not to mention a safe place to park his cart. After looking around the village for several minutes, Peng spotted what looked like an inn. He wasn't sure, so he asked a villager passing by.
"You look tired kid," said a duck resident.
"I sure am," said Peng. "Do you know if there's an inn nearby? I've got a long trip ahead and I need a place to stay the night."
"This building here is an inn," the duck replied, pointing at the large building to Peng's right. The writing above the doorway said "Shady Bamboo Inn" in Chinese characters.
Peng took a good look at the building and decided this was his best bet at getting some well-deserved rest.
"Okay. Thank you," Peng said before heading inside, leaving his cart near the door. He then went inside to ask if there was a room available.
"Do you have any vacancy?" Peng asked the innkeeper after he arrived at the front desk.
"Yes, we do," the innkeeper replied. "Right this way."
The innkeeper then led Peng to a vacant room, of which there were several available.
"Looks nice," said Peng when he first looked into the room after the doors opened.
"It's nothing fancy," said the innkeeper. "But we do offer all the comforts of home."
"Any chance my cart will be safe?" Peng asked.
"We do offer a parking garage for carts," the innkeeper responded.
Peng decided to go park his cart in the garage. There were individual garages for a cart, and after a minute of searching for a vacant garage, Peng found one and parked his cart inside. Once he did so, he took his suitcase out of a storage area in the cart and brought that back to his room, closing the garage door behind him as he left the area. Back in his room, Peng got cleaned up and ready for bed. Since he was still in a rather dismal mood, he moved rather slowly as he got cleaned up and ready for bed. While he was hoping for a good day at the next craft fair he was going to appear at, which was in two day's time in a nearby town that was also within the Valley of Peace, Peng was still reeling and in shock over the unpleasant news he got less than two months. While on his journey to the inn he was currently at, he began to question what his purpose was in life. What was he meant to do with his life? How could he not have known about his uncle's misdeeds? These thoughts and more plagued him during the trip and really wore on him, mentally, emotionally, and physically. He was left a lonely, broken hero who didn't really feel like one at all.
"How could I not have known?" Peng said to himself. "How could I not know that my uncle did so much damage and brought so much harm to the Valley? All because of the darkness that lurked inside him. Well, I won't let it happen to me. With kung fu out of my life, it won't happen to me."
With all these thought still weighing heavily on him, Peng called it a night and went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be better.

The next day started off better than yesterday had ended, even with the less-than great breakfast Peng was stuck having to eat. After what he considered to be a revolting but necessary choice of breakfast, Peng checked out and headed off to his destination. The town that was due to host the craft fair he was going to exhibit some of his new pottery works at was only half a day's travel away, so it wouldn't take him very long. This was a relief for him because the sooner he got there, the sooner he could arrive, scope out the venue, and find a place to set up his booth.
His journey started out uneventful, but around midday, shortly after lunch, the rain arrived and turned the road he was on into a muddy quagmire. His cart frequently got stuck in ruts in the road, and the large rocks certainly didn't help out at all, as the wheels on his cart regularly got stuck on them. It got so bad that Peng had no choice but to move any rocks that might be in his cart's path so that he wouldn't have to deal with so many obstructions. Even then, though, he still had the problem of the mud, which wouldn't have been so bad were it not for the torrential rain that was leaving him soaked to the bone. The rain seemed to continue all afternoon, although it did eventually stop. The effects of the downpour, however, lingered long after the rain stopped, and the road was left a sodden shamble of mud that continued to bog down Peng and his cart. It was so bad that it was almost dark out by the time he arrived at his destination. Yet even after having to find an inn to check into (this one also having a garage-like parking area for carts), change his clothes, and eat dinner, Peng was still able to find and secure a location for his booth at the craft fair venue. By this point, he was exhausted beyond belief. And yet, he was still hopeful that he would have a good day at the craft fair.

By the next morning, Peng was well-rested. After a more decent breakfast than the one he had yesterday, it was off to the craft fair. He took his cart out of the garage and wheeled it to the location he'd reserved at the fair site. The total time it took Peng to set up his cart with his items to sell was less than 5 minutes. All that was left for him to do was see if anyone was interested in his merchandise.
For the first few hours, few people, if any, took interest in what Peng had for sale. He hadn't made any money yet and was wondering if he would be able to sell anything at all. But the next words he heard changed all that.
"Excuse me, how much for this vase?" a voice asked, catching Peng slightly off guard. He turned to see where the voice was coming from. It was coming from in front of his cart. The source of said voice was another leopard like him, only this one was a female. She was wearing a dark purple vest with tan pants and a beige waist wrap. The only hint of an identity was a small pin on her vest with a name on it, which said, "Lian".

More to come. Stay tuned.