CHAPTER ONE; KEY

Hi :D This is my first dynasty warriors fanfiction that centralizes around Ling Tong (x3), Gan Ning (my 3rd fave) and my original character, Ling Yun, A.K.A Ling Tong's twin sister. It's basically just human drama and all. Het relationships and Yaoi between the two male stars too. I hope you enjoy this one. Please R/R. It will be greatly appreciated. The first chapter is a little boring, but believe me, it will get more exciting…and dramatic.

FULL SUMMARY:
Keeper focuses on the lives of four young, capable and different generals serving under Wu during the Han Dynasty; each trying to figure out who they really are and what their destinies are: the charming Ling Tong who is trying to balance between his duties and his feelings; the quiet and soulful Min Xing Yi, whose shattered past she cannot remember; Ling Tong's alluring twin sister, Ling Yun Wen, trying to realize what her main motive for life is while bearing a grudge against the extreme Gan Ning, whom in turn, is trying to figure out who his feelings truly lie with.

x3

CHAPTER ONE; KEY

The sun was already setting into the crimson red sky by the time the young Wu general, Ling Tong, arrived. He got off his horse, patting it gently and walked to his destination. Spring always had its special effect of putting a smile on people's faces whenever they saw its beautiful work; an array of beautiful flowers that grew perfectly on the soil, and even when it rained, the aftermath made it look even better when you looked up close to see raindrops on the petals. As he walked by the trail, his eyes were fixed on the sunset ahead of him. He remembered when he was younger; he asked his father how far away they were from the sun whenever it set into the sea on the sand. His father would laugh at his son's naivety and said: "That's very far, my boy."

The young officer smiled at his distant thought and kneeled in front of the thick piece of stone in front of him. Engraved in strong red letters, painted his father's name in the middle of the stone, big and clear. His smile turned to a slight frown as his fingers traced around the engraved words of his father's name. He touched the borders of the stone with his hands and rested his forehead on the top of the stone for a minute. Pulling himself back, he lit the candle that lay on the metal plate, then, after praying for another minute, stood up and closed his eyes, ignoring the smell of smoke filling the air.

&

"Father!"

Ling Cao turned around to see his son and his men run towards him. He sighed tiredly and signaled to his boat to wait.

"What are you doing, son?" He asked strictly.

"I could ask you the same thing, father." Ling Tong replied.

Ling Cao sighed again and ran a hand down his face. "I'm going to do what I was told to do. And so should you. There could be enemies you have not defeated. Now please, go." He didn't want his son to worry about him; he could lose concentration on the battle field and get killed. That was the last thing he wanted to happen to his son.

"But father, those are pirates you're talking about. They will kill you!" Ling Tong already sounded desperate and determined to make another situation. His father shook his head and put a hand on his right shoulder.

"On this battlefield, you and I are not father and son. We are generals under Wu. We are comrades. Every general has his own mission to do. You of all people should know that, right?" Ling Cao said sternly.

Ling Tong stood speechless as his father gave him a light pat on his arm, a smile, and walked into his boat, proceeding to his mission.

Moments passed, sounds of metal clashing against metal arose in the air. Ling Tong could only look at his father and a few men attack the pirates on their ship. He blinked as one of his men shook him. "Sir, shouldn't we get back to our mission?" Ling Tong barely nodded. "Sir."

Ling Tong snapped back to reality, gripping his nunchaku hard; his brown eyes filled with strength and determination. He turned around to face his men, raising his nunchaku in the air. "Let's do our mission and show them what Wu is made of!" He shouted inspiringly. His men cheered and made way for him so the young officer could lead them into enemy troops charging towards them.

And to him, leaving his father to do the mission was his biggest mistake.

"Father!" He screamed, running to his father's body when it had been claimed. He fell to his knees when he saw those familiar eyes looking at nowhere but death. Those eyes that he inherited, those eyes which wrote a thousand words. Those eyes which were dead.

"Father…" Tears sprang in his eyes and he hugged his father close to him, not wanting to let go, not intending to let go. He placed his fingers over his father's eyes and closed them. "Father…" He kept repeating.

His face was hot with anger and sadness. Hot tears poured out of his eyes as he knew his father was not coming back. He then glared into the open space, slowly releasing his father. He grabbed his nunchaku and stood up. "Curse you Gan Ning…" He said with gritted teeth. With one last glance at the man who raised him, Ling Tong's eyes now spelled revenge and vengeance.

&

Gan Ning was the object of hate of the Ling family. The aunts and uncles, the cousins, all hated him and wished he was dead. The only family member who had forgiven him and even more, swore an oath of friendship, was Ling Tong. Nobody else would forgive him. Nobody else could lay hands on him anyway, as they were inexperienced. The only danger he would face was from Ling Tong's twin sister, Ling Yun, a classic beauty with a deadly attitude towards those she hated.

For him, saying she was beautiful sounded a little wrong, since she was his sworn brother's twin. However, nobody could deny the fact that the two twins were a pair of good looking ones.

"Sunshine isn't in the palace premises is she?" Gan Ning asked as he defended a blow from his sparring partner, Lu Meng, also known as 'Old man'. He would earn a smack at the back of his head from him whenever he mentioned his nickname.

"Who is 'Sunshine'?" Lu Meng asked.

"The female Ling," Gan Ning replied, raising his eyebrows.

"She is in the palace. You know, doing what she always does, looking at the horizon, waiting for time to fly as she waits for another mission." Lu Meng said. Then he kept quiet when the ex-pirate nodded. "Why Sunshine?"

"What do you think? Whenever I mention her name I always see a death behind it. Sunshine sounds better and makes me see 'I live' behind her name. It's a 'my mind' thing." Gan Ning explained.

"She is really just like Tong, isn't she?" Lu Meng noted.

Gan Ning nodded, "More than you can imagine. Competitive, sharp tongued, quick witted, strong. Maybe if I save her from the battlefield too she would forgive me. She might even swear an oath too," He said.

"Don't test your luck, Ning. She would rip you to shreds on the battlefield. The girl's quick. And besides, after she kills you, she'd just say she couldn't save you from being stabbed by an enemy soldier. Why do you think Lu Xun and Zhou Yu never put you two on the same area but far away from each other?" Lu Meng said.

The ex pirate raised an eyebrow at the older man and lowered his weapons. "You guys confuse the heck outta me sometimes. You made me and Sunshine's brother work together on the same battlefield when he was seeking vengeance against me. And he's a guy. She's a girl. She's not as tough as he is!" He protested.

"Oh, think again, smart guy. True, she's not as tough as Tong is. BUT, she's smarter. And she hates you more than Tong did. You're a valuable officer. I don't think Sun Quan would want you killed by a fellow officer." Lu Meng said.

Gan Ning kept quiet, his gaze at his own feet.

"If you want 'Sunshine' to forgive you, you're gonna have to work a lot harder than you did convincing Ling Tong." Lu Meng said.

Gan Ning nodded, still looking at the ground. It wasn't easy gaining Ling Tong's trust. How the hell was he supposed to gain Ling Yun's trust?

&

Staring out into the horizon was a hobby for Ling Yun. Everyday, without fail, she would sit outside the Wu palace and just look in the distance, the clouds in the sky that looked like one of those paintings Xiao Qiao painted. When she was done, she would be sparring with her twin brother. But not today; because Ling Tong hasn't arrived home yet. Adjusting her back against the wall, her fingers tapped the ground one by one in a repeated fashion. It was already pitch dark and there was no sign of her brother. She wasn't too worried; her brother was a splendid fighter and one of Wu's most valuable officers. He had already been learning martial arts when the twins were 7, while she would watch in envy.

Ling Yun was quite a fine fighter herself. She had only started learning martial arts when she was 19 years old, but after training for 5 years, it's turned out worth her time and effort learning to fight. She was the toughest female fighter in Wu alongside the lady Sun Shang Xiang. Like the female pair of Ling Tong and Gan Ning, Ling Yun and Shang Xiang competed against each other of everything; who could defeat more enemies, who could complete their mission faster and successfully- basically they competed to see who the better warrior was while being close friends, just like Ling Tong and Gan Ning. Ling Yun, on the other hand, was not fond of Gan Ning a single bit.

The long haired brunette beauty was falling asleep waiting for her brother to return to the palace. The side of her chin was already touching her shoulder, and her grip on her nunchaku weapon released. The night was already destroying her energy.

&

She waited patiently and eagerly to see the return of her father and twin brother. War was a dreadful thing. You'd never know when the last time you'd ever see your loved ones is. As she stood in the crowd of wives and children, she kept a lookout for her father and Ling Tong. Then, the crowd grew awfully quiet when lord Sun Jian stood on the highest steps of the Wu palace. He did not look very pleased. However, everyone was glad that their lord had returned home safely.

Please let father and brother be alright…She thought to herself.

"Citizens of Wu! We come back with victory in our veins!" Sun Jian started, throwing his fist into the air. Everyone cheered but herself.

"But…despite victory…we lost some of our most valuable men," He added. Ling Yun's heart twisted agonizingly. Her nails were practically starting to feel flesh.

She released herself when she saw that familiar face of her beloved brother. She squeezed her way through the crowd and when she saw him up close, with a few bruises on his cheeks, hands and legs, her hands flew over her mouth. But she wasn't upset. She was happy, so happy that he was alright. However, his eyes didn't look so alright.

As she saw more familiar generals, she noticed a few missing. Among them, her father. "These men have helped us to the road of victory," Sun Jian announced. More cheers. They seemed like drumbeats in her ear. Her father was not among the line of surviving generals. This was too wrong. No, she screamed in her head. She turned around, away from Ling Tong as he flashed an apologetic glance at his sister. As she walked out of the crowd, Ling Tong chased after her, past the crowd that cheered for him.

Tears rolled down her face like pearls. She had her hands on her eyes and she felt hot tears on her palms.

"Yun!"

She didn't stop walking.

"Yun!"

That's when it was too much. She dropped to her knees, her arms rested on the ground and her face buried in her arms. Footsteps rushed to her side, slowly pulling her up. She pulled her own arm back, not wanting to stand up. "Come on, Yun." Ling Tong pleaded. He grabbed her by her shoulders and made her face him.

"I'm sorry," He apologized repeatedly. "I'm so sorry…"

Her face scrunched up and she buried her face into her palms, already wet and sticky.

In the distance, the twins could hear Sun Jian still speaking to the crowd loudly. "Although we lost the men you don't see present here…they will be deeply missed. They fought for Wu, they died for Wu. And they died to protect Wu,"

Ling Tong pulled her in for a hug and let her cry into his red attire. He patted her head, stroking her smooth, brown hair. The two said nothing as she cried, cried and cried while he could do nothing but spill a teardrop or two, and hold his sister close.

"They did not die for nothing. Their deaths are not in vain."

&

"Yun?"

Ling Yun jumped. Then she calmed down when she saw it was her brother who called her up. "About time you showed up. Where were you?" She demanded.

"Visiting." Ling Tong said with a smirk. He got off his horse and got out his halberd. "Ready?" He asked.

"It's kinda dark to be sparring."

"We can practice in the dark. Not all missions are under sunlight, you know?"

Ling Yun smiled and grabbed her nunchaku.

TBC

NEXT CHAPTER (2): CHANCE