Heeled shoes thumped onto the floor in a rhythmic pattern, the long slender legs that wore the shoes pursued forwards bending elegantly as the white skirt flowed behind them continuously. Covered in a very revealing dress, exposing not only the dancer's flat and well defined stomach but other parts of her body as well. Her arms swayed delicately, moving in sync with the motion of her hips as they swayed back and forth which each step. Long, luscious brown hair flowed gently in it's ponytail, attacked to the top of her head was a tiara of some sort, gold and blue.
Azure eyes stared straight forwards, determination in them as they glanced to the left for a moment before returning to staring forwards and they squinted in slight surprise when they caught sight of the guards ahead, a single blink and they returned to the normal size. Strawberry pink lips already forming words and they moved to their own accord as she talked with the dressed in purple men, the lips tugged upwards into a sneaky smirk when the guards started leaving.
"This is too easy, I almost feel sorry for them."
This woman who was walking calmly but quickly was the dancer Diao Chan; concubine to Dong Zhuo, adopted daughter of Wang Yun and one of the main conspirators in the ploy that would bring ruin to Dong Zhuo and result in his death. The ploy was for her to come between Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, tear their relationship apart and convince Lu Bu to kill his Dong Zhuo.
A feminine man clad in yellow danced across the battlefield beautifully, his razor sharp claws slicing and dicing into the enemy with such ease. "Hmm, there is no beauty to be gathered from this battlefield. I have no more concerns, Lord Yuan Shao has definitely thought this out well."
A gorgeous woman with dark black hair, a sexy figure hugged by her yellow and black dress, nodded her head in response to her friends statement. "Yes, it would appear so Zhang He. However, these gates are sealed shut and it appears we will not be able to send Sun Jian the provisions he needs. Yuan Shu is keeping a tight lock on our ones, I am only slightly confused as to his reasoning. Clearly, he doesn't think too highly of the vanguard. Foolish and idiotic, unity is our only hope of defeating this evil and bringing back peace."
The two generals of Yuan Shao continued to fight side by side, acknowledging that their original plan wasn't going to be of much use and after clearing out all of the troops employed by Dong Zhuo, advanced with haste to aid the General Sun Jian and his small army.
The battle of Si Shui Gate raged on, neither side had the advantage at the current moment. Yuan Shao was leading the coalition and Li Jue was acting as commander for Dong Zhuo's forces, Hua Xiong currently holed up behind the gate, waiting for his opportunity to strike and bring ruin to those that trifled with his Lord.
A small, breakable copper key in her hand, she carefully inserted it into the door and unlocked in swiftly, opening it so there was a small gap just wide enough for her to fit through. Once she made it past, she closed the door and continued on her path with determination. A lot was happening at the moment, a coalition had been formed to put down Dong Zhuo and were currently attacking Si Shui gate.
Si Shui gate was key to gaining access to Luo Yang where Dong Zhuo resided, defiling the palace and sacred home of the Emperor. If they gained access to Si Shui gate, all that stood between the Coalition and Dong Zhuo's head was Hu Lao Gate. Dong Zhuo was by no means a fool, he seized power with ease after all and installed a puppet Emperor to do whatever he wanted and sent a small portion of his army to stop them at Si Shui Gate.
Diao Chan was one of many to stay behind in Luo Yang, something she was grateful for. Despite having practiced how to fight and studying the subject of war after Cao Cao's failed assassination attempt, Chan was not yet prepared for a real battle but it seemed inevitable at this current state.
Her hands wrapped around a handle of a door and she pulled at it with all of her strength, the tyrannical Dong Zhuo was truly diabolical and had the Emperor locked away in the Palace, somewhere hidden where not a single person would be able to find him. But Chan had worked around in the shadows, scouring for clues and eventually pieced together the puzzle and had determined his location, now on a journey to find him but not rescue him, it was far too risky and would serve no purpose, she wasn't stupid and knew very well that a daring rescue attempt would merely end in her death.
Sun Jian was faltering, both he and his men were starving and there had been no trace of supplies coming anytime soon. Sun Jian scowled, he knew what exactly was going on and who was to blame. "That petty Yuan Shu, is his head so bloated with arrogance that he refuses to aid others in a time of need?" Sun Jian cut a few troops down, he was outside Si Shui Gate and was extremely close to being able to charge in and seize victory but Yuan Shu's treachery was preventing that.
Fighting alongside Sun Jian was his wife, Wu Guotai a woman who originated from a powerful family that refused her marriage to Jian but later consented, Guotai had both beauty and brains. "Worry not, Jian, it will all be sorted soon. There are far too many in this Coalition who want to see Dong Zhuo fall to allow us to wither here. For now, redouble your efforts on fighting and show them why you are called the tiger!"
"Lady Guotai as much as I admire your confidence." Huang Gai, senior officer and close friend to Sun Jian spoke. "I am afraid I, myself, am feeling the hunger and it's effect is purely negative. We won't be able to fight for much longer."
The Sun Jian forces would continue to struggle for a while longer, Yuan Shu refusing to send any of his supplies, Yuan Shao's small force joined Sun Jian's on the frontlines, Cao Cao too busy fighting enemies to take much notice. It seemed like it would be all over for Sun Jian and potentially the Coalition.
This was all the information Hua Xiong needed before he charged out, glaring down at Sun Jian and slamming his short halberd down. Only a timely block by Sun Jian was able to save his life. "I will cut you down today, you will become my most famous exploit!" Hua Xiong boasted and Jian grimaced in pain, he had to remain strong because if he fell here today it would all be over for his family and he wouldn't allow that to happen.
"This tiger is going to rip out your throat!" Jian shouted ferociously as he pressed on to attack, his quick but powerful blows caught Hua Xiong off guard as did the orange soundwave that was produced when Sun Jian slammed his sword, adorned with nine rings into the ground.
While the battle between Hua Xiong and Sun Jian had just began, the battle had shifted into Dong Zhuo's favour.
Diao Chan slipped quickly and quietly into the room, withholding a gasp as she looked at the bleakness of the room around her and the disgusting state it was in. The stench did it no favours and Diao Chan was fighting back the vomit that was rising up her throat. The poor Emperor, how could he survive in such a room? The room was practically rotten, stone stained in who knows what and the walls were peeling and decaying, it was not in the slightest inviting.
The two guards with their big, round bellies laughed merrily at stupid, unintelligent jokes and failed to notice the fourth person in the room. Diao Chan was very surprised, she assumed that Dong Zhuo would of placed his best guards here to 'protect' the Emperor from this will 'evil' intentions, as he told everyone at the court but they all knew he was lying but had the sense of mind to agree and pretend they didn't. Perhaps after his close call, Dong Zhuo decided to have the best protect him and leave the fools to protect the Emperor.
Chan's eyes fell upon various jugs, all of great size, littered around the floor and she knew the guards were slacking off to drink alcohol. She scowled, the Emperor's life was in constant danger. As a citizen of the Han, it was her job to protect him but she might not be strong enough.
Having lost track of time, Chan was unsure as to when the guards passed out but it mattered little, all she needed to know was how long they would be passed out for. She took a deep breath, in an attempt to soother her nerves and put on her friendliest smiles as the question she was about to ask was extremely difficult for the Emperor to answer without knowing or trusting her, she hoped he would believe her after all she had no reason to lie to him.
The volunteer forces were very underrated by Yuan Shao and the others, even Gongsun Zan who had put them together but being underrated had an advantage, they weren't given direct orders and were free to aid whoever, whenever. But they weren't foolish, idealistic and hopeful yes due to their leader Liu Bei, but they weren't foolish.
Right now, they wanted to help Sun Jian for they knew that it would be hell of a lot harder to take down that fat pig, according to Zhang Fei, without Sun Jian able to fight and so they were hunting down for the enemy provision. Guan Yu's eyes squinted before he smiled, fingers rubbing his long, glorious beard as he called his brothers over and pointed.
They approached and a fight ensured, Wang Fang who was Li Ru's apprentice tried to put up a decent fight but against the three oath brothers, he stood no chance. Liu Bei smiled triumphantly. "Men! Send these provisions to Sun Jian! We shall claims victory today."
The supplies had been sent and that was all that Sun Jian needed, he beat Hua Xiong with ease and prepared to deliver the final blow but an arrow was suddenly fired. With a timely duck and roll, he avoided being skewered by the thing but had given Hua Xiong all the time he needed to escape.
Si Shui Gate had been claimed by the Allied Forces, Yuan Shao sent his small group to cut off the escape point and they gave themselves a night to rest before the attack on Hu Lao commenced. The Coalition didn't know what the future would hold, but all were certain they would claim victory.
Only time would tell however if their predictions were to be true.
Constant chatter filled Chan's ears as she hurriedly looked at the Emperor with pleading eyes, trying to portray her innocence and faithfulness. "Please, Emperor. You have to tell me where the seal is, if it falls into the wrong hands then I'm afraid of what will happen. If Dong Zhuo gets his hands on it then there will be no more hope."
A few more pleads, a few more stories of what would happen was all it took for the young Emperor to cave. "Diao Chan, I hope you are as loyal as you say. The Imperial Seal is located in the wall of a specific well, the wall has been hollowed out to allow for the Imperial Seal to hide in it. Empress He hid it before she confronted Dong Zhuo, her insight was most invaluable in keeping it safe."
"Thank you, my Lord, I promise I'll rescue you soon. I will free you." Chan smiled and with that she slunk back into the shadows, waving with her hand before the darkness enveloped it. When Diao Chan arrived back into the main area of the palace, it was in chaos.
"The Allies! The Allies! They've taken Si Shui Gate and are preparing for an attack on Hu Lao Gate!" Diao Chan's eyes widened with shook, hand covering her mouth to disguise the gasp. "How could they move that quickly? The Coalition is truly a force to be reckoned with, perhaps they'll be the ones to bring an end to this tyranny."
With a seductive waltz over to Lu Bu, she bowed with her hands clasped together. A flirty smirk on her face as she watched him look at her with a softness that was kept hidden from everyone else. "Allow me to accompany you." His eyes widened with shock and Chan's smirk only grew wider.