Dynasty Warriors: A Love Worth Fighting For

Chapter 1 of part 2 of my Liu Shan/Xingcai trilogy. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors belongs to Koei.

Chapter 1: Unfortunate Truths

During the later Han Period, turmoil ran rampant through the state. Against her daughter Xingcai's wishes, Lady Xiahou got permission to hold a tournament to choose her daughter's husband. The winner was the overweight, lecherous warlord Dong Zhuo, distraught by this she fled with her new friend, Liu Shan, to Xu and Liu Shan's father Liu Bei. Dong Zhuo allied himself with Yuan Shao and Cao-Cao in order to get Xingcai back. After much bloodshed he was successful in capturing her, although she now loved Liu Shan. Liu Bei and his people were forced to flee and rebuild their army, along with their ally, the forces of Wu, led by the Sun family. Dong Zhuo returned to the capital and prepared to launch an attack against another enemy. Xingcai was held as a prisoner and was to remain so until the wedding. Yuan Shao meanwhile had taken Sun Shangxiang, daughter of Sun Jian and wife of Liu Bei, prisoner and planned to force her to marry his second son. He was also planning to attack the army of Gongsun Zan. Cao-Cao meanwhile was quietly building his strength, having taken over Xu. The Sun family were also rebuilding their strength and awaiting the recovery of Sun Jian and Zhou Tai. Meanwhile Liu Bei was forced to take refuge with his friend Liu Biao and took up base in Xin Ye, trying desperately to rebuild his army, help the people and find someone who could help him turn the war around.

Liu Shan awoke with a groan, he looked around, surprised. The last thing he remembered was being on the battlefield at Ru Nan where he was knocked out. Shaking his head he got out of bed and quickly got dressed. He then left the room, looking around, trying to find someone who could give him some answers. Just then a serving girl spotted him and approached, bowing.

"Master Liu Shan, it's good to see you are awake, please, follow me." She said, "Lord Liu Bei wishes to see you."

Liu Shan nodded and followed her. As they walked he looked out of the window they passed. He could see people walking around the courtyard and the town outside. He could see Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in the courtyard too, they appeared to be training.

"Excuse me…" He asked the serving girl, "Where are we?"

The girl smiled and replied, "This is Xin Ye in Jing Province, Lord Liu Bei is here as an esteemed guest of Lord Liu Biao."

Liu Shan nodded and continued to think, trying to fill in some of the blanks. All he could think however was his desperate need to save Xingcai. Finally they arrived at the main hall where Liu Bei was sitting; Zhao Yun was with him along with Xu Shu and another man. The man was rather short and wore a white and green robe and hat, as well as a cloth covering most of his face, only his brown eyes were visible, his brown hair was also barely visible under the hat. He was carrying a staff which was likely also his weapon.

Liu Shan approached them and Liu Bei smiled.

"Ah good, you're awake." He said relieved, "Allow me to introduce you to Pang Tong."

He gestured to the short man who bowed in greeting.

"Pleasure." Pang Tong replied, "I am here to aid you by joining the army as a strategist."

Liu Shan nodded.

"We have Xu Shu, no offense but…surely he…?" Liu Shan began but Xu Shu shook his head.

"Compared to Pang Tong I am a mere student…There is only one other man with skills like him."

Pang Tong appeared to smirk, "Yes, you'll probably know me better as the Fledgling Phoenix."

It was then Liu Shan recognized the man and nodded.

"I see, I apologize Master Pang Tong." He replied, he then turned back to his father. "What's going on, how long has it been since Ru Nan?"

"It has been a week. We've taken refuge here for now." Liu Bei explained.

"What about Xingcai?"

Liu Bei sighed.

"She is still in Dong Zhuo's clutches, as much as I agree with you and wish to save her and Shangxiang…We can't do anything, we are not strong enough, we must continue to build our strength."

Liu Shan nodded.

"I understand father, I shall do whatever I can to help."

Liu Bei nodded and so they got to work, rebuilding their army, helping the people and hoping they would soon be strong enough to rescue their captured maidens.

Meanwhile, in the Capital Dong Zhuo sat with his officers in council. Despite Guan Yu's triumph in the battle of Ru Nan, the man he had killed was not Hua Xiong, but a body double. The real Hua Xiong had been back at the capital readying his lord's army for their next battle. Dong Zhuo looked at his men before making his speech.

"Our battle with Liu Bei is over for now, I finally have that which is mine and we can focus on the fights that truly matter." He smiled and then announced. "We are going to take Xi Liang as our very own, and defeat the Ma family who have been a thorn in our side for so long."

The officers all bowed respectfully, Dong Zhuo then called out a group of officers to join the campaign.

"Lu Bu, Li Ru, Li Su, Hua Xiong, Li Jue, Guo Si, Xu Rong, Niu Fu, Wang Fang, Zhang Ji, Yang Yi, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Xiang, Zhang Yang, Yang Biao, Li Meng, Dong Min, Fan Chou, Chen Ji." He called out. "You are all part of the campaign with me; we leave at once…Zhang Jiao will be joining us."

They all bowed.

"Yes my lord."

So they all prepared to leave for their campaign, ready to fight against the Ma Family. Dong Zhuo planned to expand his influence even further before he finally made preparations for the wedding, much to Lady Xiahou's delight, as in her eyes, more territory in the groom's hands meant more guests.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.