With Changes Come Chances
DISCLAIMER: If I owned the game, would I bother to write fanfictions about it? Me thinks not. Na Mei(1) and Sying Long(2), I own. But that's it.
A/N: Just another random idea, which I admittedly thought up when I was re-reading Destiny's Saga (Yume Takamiya). Oh, and I think Sun Quan is an idiot, so Sun Ce is still alive and kickin'. And everyone is in their DW5 outfits. Also, I rewrote a large part of this chapter, because the original was basically crap.
Summary: When a bandit attack forces two children to run away, no-one could have predicted the outcome.
"Na! Sying! Come on in, it's getting dark!"
Following reluctant moans, the two twins came inside. The first, Na Mei, was an attractive young girl of only 14. She had shoulder length, black hair, and her left eye was blue, the other brown. The second, Sying Long, looked almost identical to his sister (who was born only 10 minutes after he was) except his left eye was brown, with the right blue. From a distance, they looked the same; even their mother sometimes mixed them up.
Blinking in the sudden light of the candles, they quietly walked through the small house into the bedroom – the house was too small to allow for more than one, and the family were glad of it in the cold winter months. Their mother followed them, and began carefully folding up the clothes that the children dropped as they changed.
"Mother, I know we're kinda old for bedtime stories now, but can you tell us the legend?" Na asked as she snuggled under the covers. Their mother gave a soft chuckle as she bent over to place the folded clothes in a pile in the corner, but as she stood up, something out of the small window caught her eye.
"Na, Sying, the bandits are coming. Run!" The twins sat and stared at their mother for a split second, until what she had said settled in their minds. Throwing back the threadbare blankets, they took off out the back door and away over the dusty plains, spotted with dead and shrivelled shrubbery, to their agreed meeting place. Bandits were common in this part of China, so every house had a safe place to hide.
"I don't like this, Sying!" cried Na as she ran on past the little woodland area.
"I don't either, Na. But we've got to keep on running!"
The raven haired girl ran quite literally for her life, but was soon lagging behind her twin. She could hear the cries and whoops of the bandits, and something else she couldn't place. It wouldn't be until some time later she would recognise it as the sound of flames licking away at the walls of the house and slowly devouring her old life.
All of a sudden, Na Mei stumbled on an exposed tree root, and fell over. She scrambled back to her feet, and tried to run on, but she was exhausted. Any minute now, she expected to be brought down by the bandits that had unexpectedly changed her life with the stroke of a blade…
"Na!" Na looked up to see that her brother had slowed down to wait for her. He looked as exhausted as she felt, but Na suddenly noticed a movement behind him.
"Sying! Tiger!" She gasped. He whipped round just as the ferocious beast leapt, but managed to raise his arms in time to partially block the slash of claws. Gasping in shock and pain, Sying's legs suddenly buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground that was now splattered with his blood.
Na Mei drew level to her brother, and, without pausing to think, leapt at the tiger, and knocked it to the ground. The tiger was caught unawares, but slashed Na in the shoulder with a lightning fast reaction. She gasped in pain as the force of the blow knocked her over, but quickly rolled upright again, picking up a large rock in the process. With all her might, she swung it at the tiger's head. It connected with a bone-jarring thud, and the tiger fell down, dead.
She half smiled, before a stab of pain brought her back to the real world. Realising what she had just done, she collapsed and threw up.
"Na..." She span around to see Sying struggle into a seating position. From where she was, she could see that Sying's night clothes were saturated with blood – his blood. She felt light-headed... As she collapsed, she heard the sound of hoof prints, but then the darkness engulfed her.
Na Mei felt oddly warm and comfortable. Suspended in the pink fluffy clouds that represent the twilight zone of consciousness, she became aware of voices.
"How are they?" said a quiet voice.
"The girl will be alright. But we'll need to keep an eye on the boy. He lost a lot of blood." replied a different voice. Perhaps a medic?
"Where did you find them again?" said the first voice.
"In the plain, south of the city. It was quite dark, but I'm pretty certain I saw the girl kill a tiger with her bare hands!" This voice was different from the other two - it sounded younger.
"That's impressive, I grant you."
"Yes. I think they were running from some bandits. A house was on fire, but by the time I got there, a woman - their mother I think - was dead."
"Shame."
Na stopped paying attention to the conversation. Her mother was dead... Her house was burned down... Her brother was possibly seriously injured. And she had killed!
Reluctant to face the truth, Na Mei opened her eyes. She looked up to see two men talking to each other, and another sat quietly in the corner.
"Hey, you've woken up." The man who the first voice belonged to pushed past his companion, and walked over. He was dressed all in red - they all were - but he emitted a kind of aura that immediately put Na at ease. He had longish hair tied in a high ponytail, and a goatee.
"How are ya feeling?" Na tried to raise herself up onto her elbows, but her shoulder gave way, and she cried out in pain.
"Woah, take it easy. Tigers slash hard."
"You don't say..." she mumbled, biting her lip to stop the tears. A shadow of a smile crossed the man's face.
"What's your name?"
"Na Mei. My brother is Sying Long. Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry, I never introduced myself, did I? I am Sun Ce, ruler of Wu, and son of the Tiger of Jiang Dong -"
"- Don't forget The Little Conqueror -"
"This is Zhou Yu, the Wu strategist."
Na looked past Sun Ce at Zhou Yu. He had an almost feminine face, with long lashes and high cheekbones. He nodded to acknowledge his name, while Na pinned him as the second one to speak from before. Being a strategist explained his medical knowledge.
"And that is Lu Xun, Zhou Yu's novice. We're placing him in charge of you and your brother."
The young man sitting in the corner went a slight shade of red at being called a novice, but held his composure, and nodded, as Yu had done. He was wearing an almost pink shade of red, with a top that showed his stomach, and a hat with what looked like wings on the side. He was the one who brought them here, she was sure of it.
Just then, a messenger came through the door.
"My Lord Sun Ce, message from Lord Sun Quan. He wishes to see you immediately."
Sun Ce nodded.
"Come on, Zhou; let's go see what Quan wants." Ce turned to face again. "I'll talk to you later if I get the chance." he said, then walked out the door, closely followed by Yu. Xun suddenly looked awkward.
"Can I get you anything?" he said hesitantly.
There was a moan from the other side of the room, and Na knew that Sying was there with her.
"My brother; how is he?" she asked, fearing what the answer may be, but keeping her voice steady. Xun glanced over at the figure on the bed across the room, and Na could tell that it was quite serious.
"... We'll have to keep an eye on him... but you! A tiger is very hard to kill!" he said, swiftly changing the subject.
"Please don't remind me... I hate to think that I killed an innocent creature..."
"Have you ever thought of becoming a soldier? I mean, killing a tiger takes some skill. Did your parents teach you how to fight?" Na looked away from the young strategist. Lu Xun sensed that he had hit a raw nerve, and was about to change the subject again when Na spoke up.
"My father was killed when me and Sying were only small, or so my mother says. He went to fight, and that was the last we saw of him. I know some basics of fighting because of the frequent bandit attacks in our village. My mother always tried to protect us, but we saw anyway. And if what you said is true, then my mother is dead too..." Na trailed off, her gaze dropping to the ground.
"Oh, I am sorry, I didn't realise... Can I ask who your father was?" asked Xun carefully.
"My mother swore us to secrecy, but for some reason I feel I can trust you. His name was Lu Bu."
Lu Xun physically paled at the name. Although Lu Bu was before Xun's time, the very name still struck fear in him.
"Wh - Who was your mother?" Na turned to look at him, and saw how pale he was.
"Diao Chan. Why?"
"... I suggest that you tell no-one who your parents are. Lu Bu was an evil man. But the woman I saw... she didn't look like Diao Chan..."
"Mother changed over time. When father died, she stopped making an effort to look beautiful, and began doing menial tasks."
Lu Xun had slowly returned to his normal colour again.
"With your father being who he is, it's no wonder you are strong... you should become a fighter."
"Oh, but I am not strong! Or brave!"
"You are, you know. I saw you fight the tiger."
Na Mei was about to reply, when a gong rang out.
"Oh! That's the dinner gong. Do you want to eat in here?"
Na nodded absent-mindedly. She was deep in thought. So much had happened in such a short time! And now she was fighting material? What next? She was beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the things that happened in the last day or so; like nothing would surprise her. Lu Xun watched her for a minute. He didn't know why, but he was starting to like this pale young girl already… Shaking his head slightly, he spoke up, shaking Na out of her reverie.
"I'll go and ask the cooks to make us something then."
"Oh, you're eating with us?"
"It wouldn't look good if I left you just to eat, would it? You are, after all, in my care." he said, as he walked out the door.
Na watched him walk out, then sat up, taking care to not use her injured arm. When she was sat, she could see her brother.
He was pale, with a pinched look to his face, and was lying with his eyes closed and his lower arms wrapped in blood-soaked bandages.
"Sying?" Na called out. Sying Long opened his eyes to look at his sister.
"How are you feeling?"
"I've felt better... Na, you killed that tiger... you saved my life."
"You're my brother, I couldn't let you die. You're all I have left."
"What - you mean mother -" Na looked at the floor, and nodded silently. Sying looked at the floor as a sign of respect. Then he thought of something, and looked up at Na.
"I heard you talking to someone - who was it?"
"Lu Xun. He found us after the... tiger incident... and brought us here. Apparently I could train as a fighter."
"That's amazing! But - where is here?"
"Oh, we are, I suppose, guests in the kingdom of Wu. The leader has already been to see us."
"Wow, we're getting a lot of attention, aren't we?"
"Apparently tigers are hard to kill. Oh, and Lu Xun said something else..."
"What?"
"To keep the identity of our parents secret. I'm not quite sure why, but I trust him."
Sying was silent for a minute or two before speaking up again.
"Na, I will recover. We told mother that we would protect each other. If you become a warrior, then so will I! And besides... I owe you one."
"No you don't, you're my brother. I swore to protect you, as well as you, me. You don't owe me anything."
"Even so, I won't feel right until I pay you back. But never mind that now; what did you do to your shoulder?"
"The tiger caught it before I… got it. It's fine if I don't move my arm."
At this point, Lu Xun walked back in the door, followed by three servants, each carrying a tray.
"I can see you're both feeling better now. Dig in!" And with a flourish, the servants removed the covers on the trays to reveal a rich, creamy soup with a delicious smell radiating from it, and warm, crusty buns. Lu Xun watched with some amusement the looks of wonder on their faces.
"All this - for us?" Na Mei gasped as a servant helped Sying sit up. Once everyone was settled, the servants excused themselves, and left.
As they ate, Na couldn't help thinking that things may turn out fine after all...
(1) - Na Mei Graceful Plum Blossom
(2) - Sying Long Dragon Star
If I got the definitions wrong, sorry, I got them from a Chinese name site.
A/N: Wow my longest ficcie yet. Please R&R, flames will be tolerated if they are intelligent. I want at least 1 review before I post the next chapter, requests and ideas welcomed. And who knows, I might even give the story a plot...
A/N2: Even after rewriting this chapter, I can't make that "Na, you saved my life" bit any less crappy. I apologise, and add that this chapter will almost definitely be rewritten again when I finish the story.