If you've noticed, so many story ideas have been coming into my mind since last week, and now... here's another one.
This was supposed to end up as a sad or tragic story, but for some reason, it ended up like this.
This also involves one of my favorite game series.
The trio were running. Why? They were being chased by an army of soldiers, along with their commander. What did they do wrong? Nothing. Nothing at all. They just happen to go back in time, because Sherman and Penny had an assignment about History. Their topic? The Three Kingdoms period in China. Mr. Peabody allowed them to use the WABAC, but he had to go with them, since Sherman was still a novice on driving the machine, and two, this was a period when there was war.
"Sherman! Penny! Remind me again why we had to go back to the Three Kingdoms period? This is considered as one of the bloodiest wars in history!" they were still running, the army was still behind, chasing them.
"It's for our assignment Mr. Peabody!" Sherman answered for Penny and himself. All this, for an assignment? Well at least it showed that they were this interested in History. Unless, it was only for the homework.
They were starting to get exhausted. Could this be the end for them? Certainly not. Out in the distance, they saw a village. This was their chance to escape.
"We can hide in the village! Quickly!" Mr. Peabody told the two. They reached the village, and were now in the middle. They ran to the right. The army was getting closer, but they haven't reached the village yet. People there saw the incoming army and quickly hid in their respective houses. They remained as still and quiet as possible.
The trio saw one house. They went inside. The army finally reached the quiet village. One soldier said to the commander, who was riding a horse, "My lord! Should we explore this village?"
The commander shook his head and said, "Move on to the next village! We don't have time to search through an abandoned one. We need to keep moving to expand our territory. Forward!" He raised his weapon, which was a sword. His army followed him, and soon the village was quiet once again. Everyone went out from hiding.
Mr. Peabody peeked out the window. He whispered loudly. "Kids! It's safe. The army's gone."
"Mr. Peabody, who were those people?"
"Sherman, did you notice them wearing blue uniforms? Those were the soldiers of the Wei army."
"So what are the colors of the other armies Mr. Peabody?" Penny asked. The dog was about to reply, but he was interrupted.
"W-who g-goes there?!" they heard a voice behind them. They couldn't see the person's face because it was behind the shadows.
"We apologize for intruding into your house, miss." So it was a girl. She walked slowly as she got closer.
"I-I'm n-not a-afraid of you!" It was evident in her voice, that she was obviously afraid.
"Miss, we're not here to cause you any harm." Mr. Peabody reassured the girl.
She walked even closer, she had a fan on her hand, using it to shield herself. There her face was finally revealed. She looked she was just in her latest teen years, or maybe even younger. Her voice though, was a little high pitched. Just a little. She was beautiful, and had her hair in two pigtails, with two red ribbons that had long ends. Sherman and Penny thought she looked beautiful as well.
"Umm miss? May we ask what your name is?" Penny asked her.
"Umm… I think it's best if you don't know." She was quite a timid person.
"W-why?" Sherman asked the girl.
"I-I just d-don't like to. N-not to people I don't r-really know." She glanced down, looking embarrassed. The three were curious to what her name is, but accepted her choice of remaining anonymous.
Sherman took interest in the object she was holding. "Is that a fan?"
The girl looked at the fan she was holding. "Y-yes, but it's not just some ordinary fan, it's an Iron Fan. Want to hold it?" she smiled nervously at the boy. "But don't hurt yourself okay?"
"Sure!" she handed him the fan. He looked at the fan. It was colored pink, with its edges trimmed in gold. It had some subtle floral designs on it. Though it was obviously meant to be used by a girl, he wasn't bothered by it. He was surprised at how light the fan was, even though he heard her say that it was Iron. The girl explained to them that it was actually a weapon used in battle. He played with it for awhile, careful not to hit anyone. He soon gave it to Penny, who used it to fan herself since it was getting hot. It wouldn't be until more than 1500 years later when air conditioning would be invented. Sherman saw something behind the girl, something that was resting on the wall.
"Hey! Are those pugil sticks? I didn't know they existed by this time already!" He pointed at the said object. He wanted to play with it so badly. He couldn't resist himself, and ran towards the pair of sticks, without even asking for the girl's permission. Those were no ordinary Pugil sticks. It didn't have any of those foams at the ends. One end of each stick protrudes a heart-shaped steel, while the other end, there also protruded a circular, or ring-like steel. Both of the steel parts were coated with a gold-like color. In the actual tip of the ends of the sticks had this gem-like object. On the end with the heart-shaped protrusion, it was red. On the other end with the circular protrusion, it was cyan colored. The handle of the Pugil sticks were colored red. It was Sherman's lucky guess in mentioning that they were Pugil sticks, because it looked far from the usual pugil sticks they see.
The girl was surprised, but she was more afraid. "W-wait! Don't touch that! Not the handle!" Too late. Sherman already held the pugil sticks. He felt something go down as he held the handle. Was there a button on it? Suddenly, he saw something come out of the sticks. Some kind of light pink energy just emitted from the red gem-like object at the end of the Pugil sticks. It hit the wall, and there was a sound. It slightly charred the wall.
The three were amazed, especially Sherman. "Whoa…" The girl quickly got the Pugil sticks, which was actually a pair of weapons, from him.
"P-please don't do that again. This is my weapon, and it's not meant to be played with." There was not a single hint in her voice that she was angry.
Penny thought differently. "But it's so cute, with all the hearts and stuff on it!"
Mr. Peabody spoke up, "It's a weapon, and it does the complete opposite of what the heart does."
"That's your weapon? Wait, you're a warrior?!" Sherman was curious. This girl is not what she seems. Sherman suddenly winced in pain. "Ow!" The girl noticed he had a burn mark on his arm. How did they only notice that now? Even Sherman only felt it now.
"Y-you're hurt!" she went to him, and examined his arm.
"Please stay here. I will get some ointment." She rushed to another room in the house.
"Sherman! Are you okay?" Mr. Peabody went towards his side. Penny was also concerned for him.
"It just stings a little…" It was just a little burn.
The girl returned, with the ointment in her hand.
"Here, this should help it heal." She kneeled down in front of him. She got a small amount and applied it on the area of Sherman's injury. He winced in pain as she applied the treatment. After the treatment, he felt a little guilty, and so he asked her.
"But miss, how much does that medicine thingy cost? It looks expensive."
"I'm more concerned about your injury. Don't worry about that okay?" she reassured and smiled at him.
"T-thank you, miss." Sherman gave her a nervous smile. "I'm sorry about this, and for that accident awhile ago."
"It's no problem at all! Treating your wound is what matters most." She flashed him a genuine smile. She patted his head. Sherman found it soothing.
After finding out about his son's injury, Mr. Peabody decided to stay for a few more minutes to let him rest. The four talked for some time. There was a square wooden table just near the middle of the room. There were four wooden chairs on each side, just enough for everyone to sit down.
"Ummm miss? May I ask, how old are you?" Penny asked the girl, who turned to look at her. Mr. Peabody and Sherman were busy talking to each other, with Sherman asking questions about the Three Kingdoms. He was intrigued. So he really was interested in History.
The girl replied, "Oh, ummm, I'm seventeen years old." Penny was surprised by her answer.
"Really?! You look so much younger than seventeen!" The girl took it as a compliment, and blushed lightly.
"Uhhh T-thanks?" She showed a nervous smile, and Penny just smiled at her. The four continued to talk to one another. The girl enjoyed talking with them, and most of the time, only she would get Mr. Peabody's puns, making her laugh by herself, which embarrassed her, making her blush.
A few minutes passed, and the dog decided that it's time to leave. He watched the three still chatting with each other for awhile, then stood up from his chair. "Well kids, miss, I'm sorry but we have to go."
The two kids however, didn't want to. "Awwwwwwww but Mr. Peabody! It was getting fun already!" Sherman said. They planned on exploring the other places during this period, as well as the other years within it, but since Sherman got injured, the dog decided that they just go home, cutting their trip short. Even the girl didn't want them to leave. They were really nice to have around. The three now also stood up from their respective chairs.
"You're leaving? So soon? Ummm may I ask where it is you all are going?" Mr. Peabody decided to tell her the truth. He didn't think of her as someone who would betray or be mean to anyone. She just seemed to have that aura of kindness around her, even if she owns a weapon.
"Actually, we are traveling using a time machine, called the WABAC." She was amazed by what she heard.
"A… time machine? Is such a thing even possible?" The dog simply nodded as a response.
"Anything's possible if it involves Mr. Peabody!" Penny said.
"Well, wherever you are going, I hope you all remain safe." She flashed a genuine and cute smile.
The girl hugged each one of them. It was like they were so close already, in just a matter of minutes. The three went outside of the house. Sherman was the last one to give her an embrace. She kneeled down in front of him.
"Thank you for taking care of me, miss." He smiled at her.
"You're welcome." She smiled. "Now you take care of yourself alright?" Sherman nodded.
"Oh! Before I forget, I have something for you." She got her Iron fan, and gave it to him.
Sherman was surprised. "You're… really giving it to me?"
"Of course! It is my way of giving thanks for making my day a really happy one! I'm sure you'll take good care of it!" she smiled.
Sherman didn't know whether to cry or not. He just held back his tears. "I-I promise. T-thank you so much! You're the kindest person I've ever met." Because the kindest dog he ever met is Mr. Peabody. She was touched by his words. Sherman wasn't exaggerating when he mentioned that. She didn't even force them out of her home when they intruded it. She would always ask the kids to be careful when she handed them the fan, which was actually a weapon. She even treated his wound with the ointment she has, without worrying about the cost. Now, she even gave him her own beautifully-crafted fan, without hesitation. They embraced each other again. Sherman told her something.
"Actually, you're the kindest warrior I've ever met." Sherman smiled.
"I just fight to protect the ones I love." She returned the smile. She noticed his two friends just watching them.
"Your friends are waiting for you. You should go." She flashed him a smile. Sherman smiled and nodded, and he turned around to meet with the two.
She stood up. "Farewell!" She said. The trio looked back, and waved.
Sherman was not gonna lose this one chance to ask her. He turned around. "Wait! What's your name?"
Well, she already knows them right? She finally had the courage to say it. "My name's… Da Qiao."
He thought it was a pretty nice name. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Da Qiao!" He pronounced it like "Dah Kee-ow", which was wrong. He already heard her say her own name, yet he still said it that way. The boy should get his ears cleaned. Mr. Peabody had to correct him later when they go back home. They arrived at the WABAC, and Sherman got his notebook. He wrote down a couple of things.
"It's quite funny, the kindest person we've ever met happened to live during a period of war. I hope we meet someone like her again."
He closed his notebook, and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.
If you've played Dynasty Warriors 8, you could already tell it was Da Qiao when her Pugil Sticks weapon was mentioned. And yes, the Wei commander was Cao Cao.
I'm not really good at describing things or people through text, so if the description of the Pugil Sticks in that one long paragraph confused you, or you had trouble visualizing it, I'm sorry about that. This is also why I didn't describe Da Qiao's DW8 costume anymore, it's difficult for me. Well, you can always search how they look like, right?
Not sure if this is considered as a crossover though, since her name was only mentioned at the end.
By the way, the correct pronunciation for her name is "Dah Chee-ow".
Thank you for reading!