Author's Notes/Disclaimers

This story is set in ancient China during the Three Kingdoms era. Why? Well why not, I ask you. This period in history intrigues me and thus it was easy for me to imagine the Weiss boys in certain roles during this era.

As in most fanfictions, I do not own Weiss and probably never will unless it went on ebay or something like that. I do own some dvds, manga, and soundtracks though.

The small poems set before each chapter will more than likely belong to Luo Guanzhong from The Three Kingdoms. A highly recommended read.

The Setting sun, in dark relief

Against the glowing western sky.

Throws out the everlasting hills

While, saddened, here I stand and sigh.

Humans died to found the kingdoms three,

Which now as misty dreams remain.

Of greatest deeds the traces oft

Are faint that fleeing years retain.

Luo Guanzhong,

The Three Kingdoms

Prologue

Adjusting the reigns in his hands, the young general surveyed the impending battle field. Despite being outnumbered, the battle would still belong to him. He would let none take this glory from him. From atop his sturdy brown mare, the general gave the signal to commence the attack. They would take this town, and take it fast. There would be no hope from allies on either side.

Chapter One

Command Issued

With a grave expression on his face, his Excellency Sun Quan, lord of the southern kingdom of Wu, listened to his generals and advisors. Each gave him differing reports on the situation on hand and this was troubling.

"Imperial Corps Commander Kudou Yohji. I would like to hear your input. Although you were absent from the latest border clash, you have invaluable insight. Please, let us hear your opinion."

All eyes turned towards the lanky blonde commander. Kudou slowly raised his head and exhaled deeply. Carefully running through the events the other commanders and advisors had reported his green eyes closed in thought. The loss of Xianyang was not something the Wu kingdom could afford. That area provided a strategic offensive point of operations.

"Your Majesty, although I realize that this would be a time better spent on reorganization and defense. I believe it is in Wu's best interest to not let this loss stand."

The commanders and advisors, as well as Lord Sun Quan himself, took in what the Imperial Commander proposed. They knew well that the loss of Xianyang crippled any offensive they might have had in conquering the neighboring Wei kingdom but the losses the Wu kingdom encountered did not leave many resources available to them.

"Perhaps we can seek an alliance with the Shu kingdom? Surely they will be sympathetic to our cause as well as seek to unite against the Wei," a sturdy man said. He was of medium stature but was well wise beyond his years. This was the formidable southland adviser Lu Su.

Kudou had been contending with this man for almost three years now. "If we were to inform them of the loss of Xianyang as well as the losses to the military, what do you think were to happen? They would seize the opportunity to strike us as well on the western front. I propose that I move my army immediately and seize Xianyang from Wei."

Sun Quan furrowed his dark brows. Commander Kudou had just returned from the far south and already volunteered to move his troops? Why? Why would the commander be willing to put his troops at such a great risk?

"Before I permit any such action, Imperial Commander, tell me why you should be the one to march and not one of my more veteran generals?"

The other generals and advisors listened in intently. Kudou Yohji was somewhat of an enigma to the royal court so any insight on this man's workings would be valuable to anyone who wished to form an alliance.

"Your Majesty, I am from the local region and have many personal allegiances who would surely lend aid to your cause. Aside from the personal connections, I am intrigued by the enemy general who was able to swiftly secure Xianyang without any reinforcements. I know none here who would willingly fight such a man," Yohji replied with ease. He knew what he was doing - he was using the fear that the enemy general caused in order to gain the permission to march. A low move, surely, but one that would secure him the order to march.

Sun Quan turned to his other generals. "Is there anyone among us, other than Imperial Commander Kudou Yohji, who would willingly fight the Flying General? Speak now!"

The other generals remained silent and contemplated their Lord's words. Would they be willing to sacrifice themselves? The silence was all the answer Sun Quan needed.

"By order of the Kingdom of Wu, Imperial Corps Commander and Defender of the South Kudou Yohji, you are hereby ordered to recapture the city Xianyang. Let any resource needed be immediately available to you and your army. I will send the best tacticians available to you immediately."

"With permission Your Majesty, I only require one tactician. He is currently the Protector of Jing Zhou. I require only his services and my army, My Lord."

"So be it, Imperial Commander. Tsukiyono Omi shall be summoned to serve as your tactician for the Xianyang campaign."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," with a bow, Kudou Yohji strode out of the throne room to muster his troops and to await the arrival of the young strategist. His long red robes brushing the ground lightly as he slowly loped to his awaiting units; a careless smile written on his face.

Lu Su looked on with worry. Sun Quan with sadness. Despite their differing in opinions, both men were worried about the young commander. Not because of his youth or army size but because of the enemy. The enemy was a general that generated great fear and with good reason.

The Flying General had taken only two days to conquer a Wu stronghold and with only two thirds the troops that the Wu army had commanded. He had appeared out of nowhere commanding a fleet troop of cavalry that swept the central plains and decimated the Wu battalions. Fujimiya Ran had indeed earned the nickname the "Flying General."

Yue Jin, astride his grey colt, observed the town. Despite the carnage that had occurred a mere two weeks earlier, Xianyang was relatively unharmed. City life still flourished and few showed any outward signs of rebellion against the Wei troops garrisoned here. He had but recently been transferred into Fujimiya's army and what he saw of the Flying General, he was astonished.

A young man in his early twenties out maneuvered men twice his age and with twice his experience in two short days. The tall man astride a simple brown mare with fiery red hair had won the respect of the Wei court. Now he had been ordered, by that same court, to remain here and to "remain vigilant." Meaning the court could not risk a man gaining more military power so he was forced to remain in an outer village. Yue Jin could only smirk. After all, that was the reason he was transferred here in the first place: to ensure that Fujimiya Ran had no ulterior motives other than to serve Lord Cao Cao and his court.

The Flying General (or Graceful Lord when not in battle) walked alongside his ailing mare. He was loathe to leave behind this creature as it was the last thing his father had given him before going off to battle. Ran gently patted her and led her to a field away from the village. Perhaps some time away from civilization would revitalize her again. The brown mare butted Ran with her muzzle.

"I know, Shao. You're tired but this is the only thing I can do for you right now," Ran slowly said to the aging mare. He knew it was age that was finally catching her but he could do nothing other than to let her be and to care for her. He slowly untied her reigns and let go of her bridle. "Go on, at least get some rest while you can. I don't know when we'll be called back to the front," Ran said to the mare. She whinnied and started to slowly trot around the field but keeping a wary watch on her master.

Ran wasn't about to leave her so he laid himself on the ground, content to sleep and relax for a while. Being part of the army wasn't as glorious as what his uncle had told him. If only he could find the old man and smack him a good one. Ran grinned despite himself. Maybe he could put in a special transfer just so the old man could run behind him during battle to carry his spear. Now that would truly be a punishment worthy of his exaggerations. Sniggering, Ran closed his eyes for some much needed rest.

The stallion halted and glared. An intruder was upon his land and he wasn't about to let this go unpunished. Issuing forth a battle declaration, the enormous stallion flew across the field to the grazing mare. A flurry of red and the sound of the earth trembling was all that announced the impending arrival of this stallion. Furiously it raced, ignoring the young rider who was desperately clinging on for dear life.

Hidaka Ken was cursing his luck right now. This was the reason that he couldn't ride his horse anywhere but in fields away from others. Although he was proud of the horse that he had helped raise, right now he was about to curse the damn thing for its furious nature. He leaned down to the fiery stallion's head and said a few words to the enraged beast.

"Please stop, Red Hare. She's an old horse who won't put up a fight at all." The whispered words went unanswered as the red stallion raced forth and issued another shrill declaration.

Shao, the brown mare, raised her head and flattened her ears when scent and sound of the new horse reached her. Behind her, Ran stood and looked for the source of the sudden noise. He slowly took in the sight of a young man, not much younger than he, riding the most fierce some beast he had ever laid eyes on.

Hidaka Ken tried desperately to pull the Red Hare aside and was only barely able to avert his stallion. Instead of running straight toward the mare and the red haired man besides her, Red Hare and Ken thundered across the plains and out of Ran's sight. Red Hare's shrills of anger and thundering hoofs were still heard when Ran decided to quickly get Shao away from the field.

"Come on, girl. I don't even want to know what demon that was," Ran said as he quickly gathered her and set her on a quick trot back to town. Looking back towards the plain, Ran shook his head. I pity whoever has to ride that demon.

After having been summoned to Jianling, Tsukiyono Omi glared at Yohji. He couldn't help it. He was rather enjoying the southern cities away from conflict but that had been ruined when Imperial Commander Kudou Yohji requested his services to recapture the city of Xianyang.

"I hate you, Kudou. You call me into this swampland to help you recapture Xianyang? I suppose next you're going to tell me that I'm going to have to deal with something worse than the swamp lands?" the young tactician ranted. His auburn hair glinted in the sunlight as he and Yohji slowly walked toward the encampment.

Kudou only grinned. Omi had no idea what awaited in him in the next battle. Yohji knew that the younger man was not keen on the idea of fighting, but he was needed to preserve the kingdom. He trusted no other man on the battlefield.

Kudou's silence was not the answer Omi wanted to hear. The silence meant that there was something - no, someone who was going to actually test his strategies. Sighing, Omi stopped walking and looked to the older man.

"Who is it, Yohji? Obviously its someone that worries you, if you called me. So who is it?"

Yohji stared at the bustling encampment. The smile fading from his face. He slowly turned to the young man, "Have you ever heard of the Flying General? He took Xianyang from us in less than two days without any reinforcements. We can't let someone like that run free."

It was at that moment that Omi finally realized how dangerous the situation really was.

Author's Notes/Comments

Thus ends the first Chapter of Romance of the Kingdoms. First of all, thank you for reading this. Hopefully you enjoyed it enough to keep on reading till the end. I have a rough idea of where I want this story to go to. This means that I have narrowed the ending down to two scenarios and one is happy and one is sad and I have some scenes that I want to occur. That means I am open to suggestions that would fit the storyline that I have currently running in my twisted little head.

The idea of this story came from reading The Three Kingdoms. It is authored by Luo Guanzhong and has at least five different translated versions out there. If you are interested, then go out and buy unabridged or go to a library and see if they have it. The unabridged version is well over 2000 pages long and written in lovely poetry and with lush descriptions of people and places. I did use some old legends to base the Weiss characters on but I did warp history to fit my slight need to write this as well as keep those who know the plot line interested (if any know the plot line).

I plan to continue posting on this somewhat quickly as I am on summer vacation from el universidad. Gotta use my ancient history major degree for something (not that I have it yet, mind you).

Anyways, send in your comments, suggestions, or even little messages saying, "WTF, you're still alive?" I really enjoy those - they so entertain me. They also give me encouragement. See, I am slowly regaining confidence in my writing as a professor last semester hated my style and literally ripped my final paper to shreds. Anyone who has been through this knows it is not a pleasant feeling. Le sigh

PS: If anyone wants me to write up a list of characters and their roles let me know. It might help, as there might be a lot of people in this one. I might also add in the historical people that the Weiss boys take after.

Lastly, a snippet of the next chapter - The Red Devil

It wasn't until nightfall that Ran finally returned to Xianyang and his camp. That damn horse wouldn't let them pass until it finally grew bored of the old mare and its haggard rider. As soon as Ran and Shao had thought they were in the clear, the stallion gave one last attempt to scare both of them. Red Hare had chased them off of the Hidaka's land and stopped. But the sad thing was, Red Hare had scared Ran more than he wanted to admit.

That's it. Its over. Go review and leave comments. Shoo.