Title: Behind These Amber Eyes

By: EsTeLweNadia

Summary: This is a Lu Xun-centric story; my take on his past, and more. For Lu Xun fans out there. Main characters: Lu Xun, Zhou Yu, Ling Tong, Gan Ning and Da Qiao. And some OCs. Hints of LXDQ at later part. Various pairings, if you squint.

Rating: Adventure/Angst/Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Disclaimer: All the Dynasty Warriors characters mentioned here aren't mine, and will never be.

Author's Note: This story is historically inaccurate; some places and people mentioned here don't even exist in the history. I do not follow ROTK or the games' timelines or storylines or whatsoever. This story is crafted purely out of my rampaging imagination. Oh, and be warned, though, some of the characters are a little OOC. I hope you don't mind. This story also contains some references to Secession by RedRiver.

As always, comments and constructive criticism are immensely appreciated.

Hope you'll enjoy the ride!

Chapter One: The Rescue

"Tch!" Ling Tong cursed, holding his nanchaku, the Dragon Fury, in front of him in a defensive stance as he warily regarded his surrounding enemies. "What a pain."

He was tired, and would probably be in a lot of pain if he didn't get out of this mess soon. To make things worse, three fearsome enemy generals were heading his way. He needed reinforcements very soon. No, scratch that, he needed reinforcements NOW.

A terrible sound of a blade ripping through armor and flesh and shrieks of agony made him glance back. Lu Xun was back on his feet, his twin sabers, the Falcon, dripping with blood, his expression grim and tense. Behind the boy's shoulder a soldier collapsed into a lifeless heap on the blood-encrusted ground.

"Ling Tong, you are too far out!" Lu Xun spat, his voice harsh and raw with exertion. "Look at what you have gotten yourself into! Dozens of enemy soldiers and three veteran enemy generals. You can be killed by your recklessness and carelessness!"

A dozen hot retorts threatened to escape the nanchaku-wielder's throat but he forced them back down. Lu Xun had saved his life; and he deserved the scolding. So all he just said was, "Sorry. Won't happen again."

Lu Xun only shook his head as he deftly took out several enemy soldiers without so much of a bat of an eyelid. "It's not like anyone can blame you. Right now the situation is rather grave. Wu is a little outnumbered, and our forces are overextended."

"Oh," was all Ling Tong said. He was busy whipping his Dragon Fury around, turning this way and that, and more enemy soldiers fell before the wooden weapon.

"Here they come," Lu Xun murmured.

Ling Tong glanced up. Lu Xun was right. Forget the little minions first. Go for the more threatening ones. He prepared himself for a tough fight, and was ready when one of them bore upon him with a savage glee.

The general never seen him move. All he saw was the ponytailed Wu general leapt into a blur of red and flashing brown, and seconds later his body felt as if a thousand hammers had slammed repeatedly onto him. He grunted in pain, but managed to raise his sword just in time to intercept the weapon as it crashed down on him.

For a moment they were locked in a power struggle. Ling Tong cursed; he hated weapons deadlock. Hated it with a passion. The enemy, being larger and heavier and of course more powerful, had the advantage. The general grinned and gave a hard push. An idea occurred to Ling Tong. He let himself fall to the ground, then rolled over and sprang to his feet; his Dragon Fury twirling around him threateningly.

Abruptly he glanced up. "Ah! Taishi Ci! What took you so long?"

At the name of the much-feared Wu general, the enemy officer spun around, intending to face off a more powerful threat. Big mistake. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, choking dirt with his breath being knocked out of him. His back felt like a whole huge bruise, and it throbbed painfully. He shoved himself to his feet, shot Ling Tong a dirty look, spat 'Someday, I'll defeat you!' and scurried away.

Ling Tong was in no mood to fight fairly. He would hit an enemy on the back if he had to, and he had no regrets. Right now, all he wanted was the battle to end quickly, with Wu emerging as victorious, so he could take a nice, well-deserved rest.

Feeling somewhat refreshed at the thought, Ling Tong turned around to assist Lu Xun. Looked like the youngest Wu officer had long defeated an enemy general, who lay among other dead enemy soldiers, and now he was desperately fighting off another general.

Ling Tong hurried over to Lu Xun's side, noticing at once that the boy was out of breath. Lu Xun had his twin sabers up defensively, but the enemy general's weapon slipped through the guard and crashed against Lu Xun's chest. The boy staggered back under the blow, then straightened up and swiftly retaliated; his Falcon moving in a blur. The general was given no chance to attack, and pretty soon, one of the Falcon slammed through the enemy's defenses, through the armor, through the flesh and beyond. He pulled out the saber with a sickening crunch; its blade drenched with blood.

"Xun! Are you okay?" Ling Tong asked, concern marring his features and voice and he didn't bother to hide it away.

Lu Xun quirked a quick smile. "It's nothing. I will be fine. Don't worry."

Ling Tong frowned. Xun had said he would be fine; meaning that he was not fine now, but he would be fine later. Ling Tong had heard the currents beneath the supposedly reassuring words, and saw that the brief smile was a little shaky. Lu Xun's face was a dead giveaway. It was quite pale and flushed; and Ling Tong had a nagging feeling it got nothing to do with exhaustion or the battle.

Then, as quickly as it came, the smile disappeared. Lu Xun's features had assumed its serious countenance again. Lu Xun had never looked that grave, so it meant the situation wasn't going as well as it should.

"I'm going around to rally our troops," the young strategist informed, casually swinging back his weapon to kill off an enemy soldier who tried to strike him from behind. "Wu is a little outnumbered. That is nothing, I know but our forces are overextended and too spread out. The enemy could pick us off one by one. By gathering our troops and strengthening our defenses, we can shift the odds in our favor." He turned to look directly at Ling Tong. "And you are to head back to our main camp and assist Zhou Yu fend off enemy ambushes. I will get Gan Ning or the others to help you."

"Anyone but that reckless brute of a pirate, thank you very much," Ling Tong muttered underneath his breath.

If Lu Xun had heard the comment, he gave no sign of it. He just fixed the ponytailed general a sharp look. "And this time, you have to be more careful. I don't want to have to rush to your aid again."

Ling Tong laughed and gave the boy a salute. "Yes, sir."

Lu Xun turned away and started to mount his horse. "I will be right back as soon as I can."

Then he swiftly mounted on the waiting horse and galloped away out of sight before Ling Tong could shout, "You be careful, too!" The nanchaku-wielder stared grimly after it at a moment, then he himself mounted onto his horse and headed for the main camp with all possible speed, with his troops hurrying behind.

His ribs hurt.

They didn't just hurt; they burned. Flames of pain licked from inside his chest cavity and surged to his shoulders and stomach and threatened to escape his lips as groans but Lu Xun forced them back. It did hurt, though not as painful as the wound of their defeat. He could live with the pain, but not the shame. So he tried his best to ignore the pain and focused completely on the matter at hand.

He found Gan Ning miles ahead, outnumbered, but the pirate wasn't troubled at all. Typical, for someone who loved to fight. Lu Xun halted his horse, hopped down from the animal and rushed for Gan Ning. Or rather, an enemy soldier who attempted to sneak up from behind the pirate. A quick slash; the sound of his weapon tearing open armor and flesh was audible enough to make the pirate turn around.

His roguish face lit up when he saw Lu Xun. His eyes flickered to the collapsing body of a wretched soldier to Lu Xun's bloody saber and his smile grew.

"Thanks for the save," he said cheerfully, "Got a bit of trouble just now."

Lu Xun had to arch a well-defined eyebrow. "Did I hear correctly? The Great Gan Ning 'got a bit of trouble'? If this news spread…"

Gan Ning shot the red-clad strategist a glare. "Don't even go there! This rarely happens to the Great Gan Ning. But now, the Great Gan Ning is tired and hot and irritated…"

Lu Xun slashed away. "All the more you should head back to our camp. You are too far out."

"That's the best idea I've heard in hours!" The pirate exclaimed. Lu Xun flinched. Gan Ning was too overly cheerful for his liking.

Something made Lu Xun glance up, and his golden eyes widened in horror. In one swift motion he shouted, "Behind you!", darted forward and shoved the startled pirate aside.

Everything seemed to move in a slow motion, then. Gan Ning had recovered from the shove just in time to witness an arrow cutting cleanly through the air, heedless to the chaos, towards the boy. For a moment time seemed to have gone slower still. Abruptly it accelerated. The arrow zoomed and embedded itself into Lu Xun's shoulder. The boy staggered backwards from the impact; his face contorted in pain.

"What in the nine freaking hells did you do that for?" Gan Ning shouted as soon as he was able to find his voice. It shocked him to hear how his voice sounded; frightened and angry.

Lu Xun took a deep breath and straightened up. Inhaling deeply yet again, he wrapped his fingers around the arrow shaft and pulled it out. Its tip was glistening with blood. His blood. He grimaced and tossed it aside. Noticing that Gan Ning was still glowering at him, he forced a smile on his face.

He clenched his fist and drove it onto the pirate's chest, hard. Still smiling, though in slight pain, with his golden eyes twinkling with muted mischief, he said, "Quoting you, Great Gan Ning, 'Kill your enemies, protect your ally. Simple as that.'"

Stunned, Gan Ning stared at him; even as the boy climbed onto his horse, he just kept on staring. Until the young strategist shouted, "Don't just keep staring at me! Head back to our main camp! Time's wasting!"

With that he galloped off. Gan Ning blinked, and felt a thin, amused grin crept into his lips. "That kid's amazing," he muttered. "How in the hell he knows I had said that? I only said that to Ling Tong."

He finished off a few more enemy soldiers before hollering, "Alright, boys! You heard the kid! Time to head back to our main camp and regroup! The real fun's about to start!"

What left of his troops cheered enthusiastically. With Gan Ning leading, they rushed back to their camp, slashing their way through the enemies like a farmer to wheat.

That kid better be alright, Gan Ning thought darkly. He had saved my life, and I won't let him get away without a gratitude from me.

He did not know that, miles away, in their main camp, Ling Tong was thinking exactly the same thing.

Zhou Yu was pleasantly surprised when Ling Tong showed up to help, and he was more surprised still when Gan Ning appeared minutes later. Now with reinforcements, the main camp had been stabilized and secured.

"Thank you for coming," Zhou Yu said breathlessly. "I am in your debt."

"It is nothing compared to the debt Wu eternally owes you," Ling Tong answered, then hastily added, "my lord."

"Yeah," Gan Ning piped in, "There's absolutely no need for you to thank us. You got to thank that kid. If it weren't for him I have no idea what the hell is going on."

Zhou Yu nodded. "I will keep that in mind."

Before the long-haired strategist could continue, a soldier dashed in, gave a quick bow to the commander and reported, "My lord! Ding Feng and Pan Zhang had arrived with reinforcements! They are now assisting Lu Xun take out the supply depot."

Zhou Yu nodded again. "Excellent. That will serve as a distraction. My generals, the time has come for us to head for the enemy's main camp while they are distracted! We will show them the true might of Wu!"

The 'tigers' of Wu gave a thunderous roar. Then they proceeded to demonstrate to their enemy the extent of their strength.

- End of Chapter One -

This story was in the making for years already, but too many writer's blocks and incidents had rendered this story collecting layers of dust, and almost, almost forgotten.

But I have no intention to leave it unfinished, and it is nearly completed, just one third to go, and it'll be over.

I hope you'd enjoyed the story so far.

Now onto Chapter Two.