Pure-chan: Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! From today on, I will be writing a fanfiction for Qin's Moon. I hope that this year will see many new stories posted in the Qin's Moon archive as I have no doubt that there are a good number of fans out there.

This story will be told in drabbles and mostly in the first person's POV. I won't necessarily add the identity of the person in question, and it will be intended when it's the case.

Please enjoy!

My name is Long Lian. Long as in the rising moon and Lian as in lotus. According to Father, I had been named after Princess Hong Lian of our kingdom of Han.

"Your mother insisted," he had told me that day. "I suppose it was because she had the honor to serve the princess before retiring in the mountains. Or perhaps, it was for another reason."

Though I had only been ten years old, I understood perfectly. After training me in the art of the sword, we would spend time talking. Sometimes, I asked question after question and he answered the best he could. Other times, he would simply tell me of the old days, before the kingdom of Han had been conquered by Qin. He never spoke more than necessary, but those were the only times he would talk so much. I thoroughly enjoyed his visits, and, as soon as I could, I would leave the Machinery City and head for the clearing where he could be waiting for me.

I still remember how long it took for me to persuade him to teach me swordsmanship. I had been only eight years old at the time, but I inherited both of my parents' stubbornness and eventually won him out. It was also possible that I reminded him of my mother, since she also insisted on him teaching her how to wield a sword. I still didn't know why she returned her blade to Father, nor did I know what happened to the blade afterwards. No, during my twelfth summer, Father himself told me, though indirectly.

I looked at the darkening sky from one of the Heaven Corridors. Once again, I had been so lost in my thoughts that I lost track of time. I should head to the dining room soon, else the food would disappear, especially the good meals. After all, Brother Dao had just returned from another mission. He would definitely steal whatever caught his fancy, and Sister Xuenv was out with Brother Gao, so only Master Ban or one of the other leaders could stop him… If they noticed, that is.

OOOoooO – The next day – OoooOOO

"Hey, Long Lian, are you going to greet Miss – I mean, Old Man Ban – as well?" Brother Dao asked as he joined me.

I couldn't help but smirk at his undisguised crush on my teacher.

"You know that Teacher will be displeased if you move around too much," I told him evenly as we walked through the halls towards the Waterfall.

"Ah? Who said anything about Miss Rong?" the king of thieves asked playfully. "I didn't know you missed her that much."

I rolled my eyes, knowing full well that he saw my reaction. Ever since Brother Dao Zhi had been healed by Teacher that first time, he became head over heels for her. Seeing the way he acted made me hope for someone who would care for me just as much…

"What is it, Long Mei? If you continue to daydream like this, you might fall into the Mogui Pool."

"Brother Dao…"

We embarked the boat and lowered it to the Mogui Pool where our guests were waiting. The Mohist Leader told me that the two guests were important for the Mohist School before sending me off to greet them. I wondered who they could be. Members of the Taoist School or the Confucian School, perhaps? Or one of the other schools?

"Xiao Zhi, how is it that you are here?" Master Ban asked with surprise. He had obviously been expecting someone from the lower ranks since Brother Dao had a mission recently.

I turned my attention elsewhere, looking for the two mystery guests. Other than Teacher and Yue'er, there was also a swordsman and a young boy… They didn't seem to be from one of the Schools… Though the boy seemed strangely familiar… Could he be the son of one of the Mohist brothers?

The boy must have noticed me staring at him, for he turned towards me. I avoided his gaze, embarrassed that he caught me. Hoping to forget this incident as soon as possible, I looked towards Brother Dao who was shamelessly flirting with Teacher. I often wondered why he never gave up; Teacher wasn't interested, after all.

"As long as Miss Rong is here, even if I have hundreds of injuries, there's nothing to fear," the thief declared.

My heart clenched a bit. I knew full well that my abilities were in no way comparable to Teacher's… It wasn't as though I was a jack of all trades and master of none either…

"Of course, Long Lian here is going to become a full-fledged healer soon too, thanks to Miss Rong's teachings," he added.

"Not at all," I smiled, letting it cover my true feelings. "I still have much to learn."

"I don't believe that you will remain my apprentice for much longer," Teacher told me. "You've come a long way, Long Lian, and we have all witnessed the fruits of your labor."

"…Oh…"

Smiling goofily as he always did, Brother Dao noticed the swordsman, or rather, his sword.

"And this would be…"

"Let me introduce you," Master Ban stepped next to them. He gestured towards Brother Dao Zhi. "This cunning and dodgy character is Thief Dao Zhi."

"Though I am a thief, I am the best thief in the world," he claimed with pride.

"This young lady here is Miss Long Lian," the elder gestured towards me. "She is currently Miss Rong's apprentice and grew up here, in the Machinery City."

"It's a pleasure," I bowed.

"And this one over here is Sir Ge Nie," Master Ban gestured towards the swordsman.

I am pretty certain that Brother Dao's eyes had widened, as did mine. To think that the man in front of us was the famous swordsman Ge Nie, also known as the best in the Qin Empire… He certainly was different, compared to that other one. Dressed in white peasant clothes, tied black and shorter hair, dark eyes… I suppose that it made sense. Though I hadn't expected him to have such an appearance, it certainly fitted with what I had heard about him. After all…

"Old man, why don't you introduce me?" the boy said with self-importance. I raised an eyebrow at his actions. It would seem that he had been a peacock in his past life.

Brother Dao bent down to his level. "And you are…?"

"It's just a little runt Sir Ge brought with him," Master Ban declared dismissively.

"Hey!"

"Come on, let's get on the boat."

Once everyone was on board, Brother Dao Zhi activated the mechanism that pulled the boat upwards. It shook a little and would have made Teacher fall, had Sir Ge Nie not steadied her. Brother Dao Zhi was sure to dislike him, not to mention Brother Gao, though for other reasons.

Whilst the others were distracted by the scenery, Brother Dao Zhi pulled Master Ban close.

"So tell me, why is Ge Nie of all people here?"

"He has been invited by our leader," I told him. "The both of them have."

"It's best not to let Xiao Gao see him, or else, there'll be trouble," he declared.

"Where is Xiao Gao?" Master Ban asked.

"Both he and Sister Xuenv still haven't returned from their mission," I reported.

"Then there should be no problems," Master Ban smiled.

I sighed. There was no telling how long the guests will remain in the Machinery City. Furthermore, taking in account Brother Gao and Sister Xuenv's abilities, their mission should be over in no time. It may have been ten years, but scars run deep and healing them is fairly difficult. There was no saying what could happen.

"Sister Long Lian?"

Startled, I turned around to face Yue'er.

"Is there something wrong? You're more thoughtful than usual," she commented.

"It's nothing," I reassured her. "So, how have you been?"

The young girl hesitated to answer. What happened to make a cheerful girl like her so worried? It must have been quite serious; the only times I've ever seen her make such an expression was when she thought of her father. And even then, it wasn't this bad.

"We met assassins from Quicksand," Teacher told me. "Chilian and Baifeng."

"Again? But it's usually rare to meet more than one member, unless…" I tried not to show my true thoughts, and added: "Are you being targeted? Or is it Sir Ge Nie?"

"He is the targeted one," Teacher replied. "Chilian appeared at the Medician Villia of Mirror Lake and Baifeng chased us all the way here."

"Chilian and Baifeng…" I repeated. "Aren't they two of Quicksand's most powerful assassins?"

Teacher nodded. "I also heard that those two have encountered Canglang Wang and Wusuang before they met us."

"Four members?" I was honestly surprised. Just for a boy and a rebel… "This is serious…"

"We also found out the identity of the man who killed my father," Yue'er spoke.

"Who is he? Another member of Quicksand, I presume?"

"Wei Zhuang."

OOOoooO – That night – OoooOOO

To think that the one who killed Prince Yan Dan was the leader of Quicksand himself… It made me wonder how long our Machinery City was going to last against those assassins. Speaking of which, Brother Tie was taking much too long scouting the forest. Who could be giving him so much trouble? It most likely wasn't Baifeng, Chilian or Wei Zhuang, and it couldn't be Canglang Wang nor Wushuang because both of them suffered from heavy injuries. All that left was…

"Inverse Quicksand," I realized. "He really does intend to take down this city…"

As I looked forward, I saw Sir Ge Nie standing in the Heaven Corridor. The boy, Tianming, was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was with Yue'er and that other young boy, or sleeping.

Seeing that we were alone, I walked towards him. I wanted to know more about this man who was known as the Qin Empire's best swordsman, now turned rebel. Ge Nie… Brother disciple of Wei Zhuang, possible killer of Jing Ke and current guest of the Machinery City. Could he somehow help me find the answers I was looking for?

"This is the first time that I've ever heard of a dangerous enemy approaching the City," I declared as I stood next to him. "You must have a lot of enemies."

"There are no people in this world without enemies."

"Perhaps, but some have more than others. And you, Sir Ge Nie, seem to have a fair number of them: Quicksand, the empire's soldiers and their allies," I counted. "You also have some amongst my brothers and sisters too, I suppose."

He did not reply, choosing instead to gaze at the moutains.

"Tianming…" I decided to cut the chase. "Is he the son of your sword's previous master?"

"Yes."

"The boy cares for you very much. He also acts like what little I was told of his father," I sighed. "Because of that person's actions, the emperor is after him. But you saved the boy and took him away, didn't you?"

"Yes. By doing so, I betrayed the Qin Empire."

"To do such a thing, you must be kind."

"His father requested it of me."

"And what is your relationship with Tianming's father?"

"He was my only friend."

I looked towards the mountains as well. "Is that so…"

For a while, the both of us remained standing there, lost in our thoughts. Though they might be different, they were also alike. Perhaps that is why Fate made them enemies. But even so, could they ever overcome Fate?

Pure-chan: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I'll be posting the second one soon enough. Please follow, favorite or review.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Horse!