Notes: I'm on crack. Suddenly I really like this couple. Historically, this would have been totally weird, (considering Lu Xun is 18 years older than Jiang Wei) but in the game (Jiang Wei,19/Lu Xun,17), it works. Oh, and what kind of idiot commander plans a winter battle? No one I hope, but I needed it to be winter to serve my purposes. Kekeke…
Disclaimer : I do not own Dynasty Warriors or anything remotely related.
Jiang Wei sliced through around round of Wu's soldiers, admiring their overall morale despite that Shu's forces were slowly over-taking them. It was a cold day, and he knew that neither side wanted this winter battle. Wei could see his breath as he slowly exhaled and planned his next move while looking at his surroundings. Ironically the commander of the Wu army at this particular battle was also a young prodigy around the same age. Lu Xun was his name, Wei remembered absentmindedly. He remembered seeing him when he had accompanied his master to see Zhou Yu and Lu Meng. Back then he was a mere pupil, now he was the head commander of the army, much like himself.
Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea: a compromise. Surely, if Lu Xun lived up to his rumored personality, he wouldn't disagree to spare a few words with him even if it was during battle. He sent for a messenger to inform the Wu commander that Shu's commander wanted to "negotiate" with him and to meet him at a certain spot away from the fighting, at the old temple. Of course, he would momentarily halt the advances of his army, and he in turn should do the same.
The last thing he wanted was for Lu Xun to bring an ambush party.
A messenger brought him the news while he was reading over the maps of the territory.
"Surely he jests… he wants to negotiate now of all times?" Lu Xun questioned.
He considered the proposition. It was so obvious it was a trap, it was almost too obvious. He would go "talk" with Jiang Wei and most likely be attacked or worse killed. It was the oldest trick in the book. He may have been type of person to negotiate rather than fight a battle, but to mock him with this kind of simple trick almost made him angry.
Jiang Wei… he had saw him maybe once during his apprenticeship under Lord Zhou Yu. If he wasn't mistaken, he was about the same age as him, the pupil of Zhuge Liang and also rumored to be a prodigy. He looked at the location that the Shu commander suggested for their place of meeting and raised an eyebrow. The old temple? The place was too well elevated for an enemy ambush and even if Jiang Wei had troops on top of the hill, he would have no place to hide them. Similarly, even if tried to hide soldiers at the bottom, there was not a single form of nature or a structure to hide them either.
The Wu commander shook his head. He couldn't afford to be naïve at a time like this. Perhaps the Shu commander just really wanted to take his head for himself. In that case, he would be ready. Xun decided that he would accept his offer, just in case the enemy really wanted to just negotiate. He had complete confidence in his battle skills.
Losing to another kingdom's prodigy was not an option.
Jiang Wei leaned against one of the temple pillars, passing time by slowly breathing in and out, watching his breath take form before him. He had worked out his negotiation, but he highly doubted that Lu Xun would head his words so easily. He wondered whether it was a good idea to not bring his bodyguard along, after all, he was basing the Wu commander's personality on rumors. He tightened the grip on his weapon when he heard footsteps.
The enemy was a young man of about two years his junior with an innocent, pretty face. Probably from a rich family, Wei deduced, since he wore bright red silk covered in gold designs of dragons. His weapons were two short daggers, attached to his hips, probably for speed since he didn't seem like the type that possessed a large amount of strength. When Lu Xun locked eyes with him, Wei saw that his eyes were the most peculiar light brown and full of energy and sparkle, like a young boy's.
Lu Xun tended to study everyone he met for the first time, and Jiang Wei was no exception. His long dark hair was tied back into a high pony tail leaving only bangs on either side of his face. He possessed a very mature look despite his young age, especially in his eyes, which were similar to one of Shu's peasants. Probably older than him by a couple of years, his enemy wore emerald colored armor and white stashes embroidered with simple design that extended well to below his knees. The spear he bore in his right hand suggested the Shu commander was probably very well trained in military arts.
"I suppose you have a proposition for me… Jiang Wei?" Xun said, feeling the name of the enemy commander slide off his tongue as he said it for the first time. He had stopped a couple feet away from Jiang Wei so that he wouldn't have an advantage with his long arsenal if he suddenly decided to attack him.
"Give Shu this land. This place holds no important value to Wu, but to our Lord, it is a sacred place."
Starting off with a demand without offering anything in exchange? Lu Xun almost scoffed.
"What value could this land possibly have to Lui Chan?" he asked.
Jiang Wei looked off into the distance to a now barren field. A lone tree stood in the midst of it. "You have heard of the famous oath of Lord Lui Bei and his brothers, haven't you? There is the exact spot where it occurred. During the war, this part of the land somehow fell into Wu's hands and our Lord wants it back."
Xun could sympathize with Lui Chan's feelings of wanting such an important piece of land back in Shu's control, but he could not just give up a territory for that reason alone. He shook his head. "Nevertheless, this territory still belongs to Wu. I cannot just hand it over."
Wei already knew that his proposal wouldn't go through but he was somewhat glad that Lu Xun was civilized enough to give him a straight forward answer. But he wasn't going to give up so easily. "I suppose you cannot but…"
"However," Lu Xun interrupted, "I will consider giving up the land if Shu gives us the lands to the far south."
Jiang Wei almost snorted, pushed himself from the temple pillar and walked to the edge of the temple grounds. It was getting colder and he licked his lips that were beginning to chap. "Don't be ridiculous Lu Xun, those are important agricultural lands to Shu."
"But it is nothing compared to the amount of farmland you have near the capital. Surely for this scared ground you could give up at least that much. I won't accept land that has no merits for Wu."
"I suppose we have no agreement then."
"It is unfortunate, but I cannot accept anything less."
Wei turned around to face the Wu commander again with void look in his eyes. Xun indistinctly brushed against one of his daggers with his right hand as if to assure himself that it was still there. The sky was now completely gray and snow flurries had begun to fall. He watched as Jiang Wei closed his eyes and breathed and exhaled slowly. For a moment, Xun lowered his guard. The Shu commander appeared tired. Xun didn't blame him; he also did not want to fight and he knew that his army was also hoping to just return home. He felt bad, but there was nothing he could do; he could not make a decision based on feelings alone.
"… I was hoping we would be more similar, seeing as we already have much in common."
Lu Xun said nothing and looked away.
"I was hoping you would understand."
The Wu commander understood, but couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"If I cannot take this land… I'll take something else in return."
His words surprised Xun but snapped him back to reality. As the Shu commander stepped towards him with his spear in hand, he swiftly removed his own weaponry and prepared to defend himself. Without looking away from him, however, Jiang Wei suddenly dropped his weapon, almost absent mindedly, and the clatter as it hit the ground resonated throughout the area. Lu Xun was surprised, almost taken back. No man would be foolish enough to fight an armed person with his bare hands, unless he wasn't planning…
But Xun couldn't finish his thought before Wei got to him. His body reacted by taking a step back, but his foot hit the temple pillar. Soon, the Shu commander had passed the boundary of his personal space. Wei's body heat suddenly became apparent in the cold winter atmosphere and his warm breath gently caressed Lu Xun's face. Xun had barely noticed that he had dropped his own weapons as well. His body couldn't react fast enough and soon Wei had trapped him with his arms.
His first kiss was long, almost painfully slow. Xun soon learned that Wei wasn't the type to take his time when it came to kissing. His mouth clasped onto his, slightly sucking on his lower lip but quickly moved to a successful, forced entry into Xun's mouth with his tongue. The Wu commander's gasp at the sudden entry was quickly brushed aside as Wei leaned into him, forcing the cold temple pillar up against his back. The Shu commander's tongue was tasting, almost teasing, his own tongue and the inside of his mouth as he felt it slide roughly and wet across his more than once.
"Jiang…" Xun choked desperately when he had an opening, but he didn't get further than that.
His legs felt weak and his body didn't seem to have strength to push his enemy away. Xun accidently allowed a slight moan to escape when Jiang Wei tilted his face up towards him (he was slightly shorter than Wei), which seemed to encourage him to keep going, resulting in Xun's hat falling from his head. The air around them now didn't feel chilly at all; the battle that was going on until a moment ago faded away, and Xun's mind was fooled into thinking there wasn't any reason to resist. His own mouth started moving, sucking at the Shu commander's own and his tongue suddenly mingled with Wei's. His right arm wrapped around Jiang Wei's shoulder, his fingers absentmindedly playing with the soft hair directly underneath his ponytail.
Wei let his own moan escape before gently wrapping his own arms around the Wu commander's waist, stroking his lower backside and pulling him in closer, mashing their bodies together until there was almost no space between them. Both of the commanders, however, knew when it was time to break apart. They couldn't very well breathe properly with small gasps of air each allowed the other, which surely only lasted less than a second each time.
Jiang Wei retreated first, feeling his tongue shiver as it was brought back into the cold winter air, as he slowly loosed his grip around the Wu commander's hips until only his hands rested on them. Xun's right hand fell from the back of the Shu commander's neck and now rested in the fold of Wei's left arm, loosely gripping it.
"My men are exhausted from the cold. I don't think they'll…" Wei whispered, breathing heavily.
"Mine as well… they have been away from their families for far too long… our morale…" Xun whispered. Wei's sudden action of gently running his fingers through his short, hazel hair somehow comforted him. He closed his eyes.
"I don't have the heart to tell them we failed at a negotiation…" Wei admitted.
Xun smiled sadly. "And surely neither side will have the will to fight if we start again…"
The snow fell silently around them for a few moments.
"… There must be a piece of land that Wu wants that's not near the south, right?"
The Wu commander, surprised, looked up at Wei's face to see him smiling, almost playfully. He chuckled in return and looked up towards the sky, which was beginning to clear.
"Now let's see… " Xun pondered.
OWARI!