Chapter 1: Birth of a Mare
I'm Ma Yun Lu and as the daughter of Ma Teng and descendent of the famous Ma Yuan during the Han dynasty, I'm a pretty descent fighter. They all thought I would become one of those women who stayed at home all day looking after the children, but they were wrong. One day, I saw my brother, Ma Chao, spar with my dad and I found it pretty fascinating. I was around 7 then. Dad was a little disappointed but he still taught me how to fight coz I wanted to. They also said I had talent and I defeated even my cousin, Ma Dai. It was quite a spectacular feat to everyone, considering he was a male and I a female.
So now, I'm 18. No, actually I'm 17, turning 18 tomorrow.
We have a family motto, it's like....'Justice will prevail!' or something like that. Every one in the Ma family says that with full heart, except for me. It gets on my nerves every time they say that. But, to fulfill the task of being a warrior from the Ma family, I have to say it. Deep inside, I'm an atheist. Haven't found anything worth worshipping yet. The only thing I want is for a good general to unite these three kingdoms and create a dynasty worth living in. That's all, nothing to do with justice paving the way to peace. I swear my dad and all would make a shrine for Justice if they were allowed. It's like a god to them! Why don't they cut up a pig while they're at it?
Despite all that, I love my family, especially dad. He's always saying, "We'll bring peace to the chaos!" Yeah, I'd love that to happen but deep inside me, there's this feeling that my dad will never achieve that. He's not good enough? Mmmm, I don't know. Most of our 'strategies' are like 'beat the crap outta them!' ideas. I don't think it works very well.
Hopefully one day, I can find the guy who can actually bring peace to the land. Then I could go and serve him and see the peace made by us. Until then, I'll just stick around Xiliang...
Did I just dis my beloved father? I better shut up. Heh.
There was a thump as Ma Yun Lu fell off her horse.
"Ha! I win Yun Lu!" said her brother Ma Chao, who was still atop his horse.
"Not so fast!" replied Yun Lu grabbing a handful of dandelions and throwing them at Ma Chao's horse, Shadow Runner. They tickled the stallion's nose which frightened it and as a result, he reared and threw Ma Chao off.
"Hmph. Well then, we'll spar on the ground," said Ma Chao, a tad bit annoyed.
"Readyyyyy.... when I am!" said Yun Lu. She ran towards Ma Chao and swiped at him, which he just managed to block.
"What the hell Yun Lu? I wasn't ready yet!" shouted Ma Chao as he blocked another swing.
"No rules about waiting is there?" Yun Lu swung the other end of the spear at Ma Chao's thigh but he was expecting it. He quickly sidestepped the attack, hopped jumped behind her and poked Yun Lu's back with the point of his spear.
"I win again. Why do you keep challenging me to battles you'll never win?"
"I can improve dude. Practice makes perfect!"
Ma Chao leaned on his spear.
"You improve, I improve. It's as simple as that. You might win if I stopped practicing."
"I'll win you won day Mengqi. Mark my words," stated Yun Lu.
"Well, you try your hardest when that time comes Yun Lu," said Ma Chao. "See ya."
"It's my birthday tomorrow! Will dad be back by then? Have you got my present?" asked Yun Lu.
"Maybe..." Ma Chao walked off to his home. Yun Lu took hold of her horse Chalk and Ma Chao's Storm Runner and led them towards the stables.
"Let's go my dear four legged friends," she said, nuzzling her white horse.
I've never won a sparring contest against any of my family, except for my cousin Ma Dai. He went all red when I defeated him, no doubt ashamed that I, a girl, won him! But that was only once. I've won all the soldiers and elite fighters in our army though.
My weapon was designed by my dad to suit me. See, as a girl, I don't have as much strength as a guy. So my dad drew up a short, light spear for me to use easily. Took the designs to some famous blacksmith and when I held it, man was it light!
It's a double sided spear, the spear heads made with some kind of light and 'premium' metal. It also has an eclipsed shaped hole in the middle. And the handle bit is made out of some again, 'premium' wood.
Not to mention my horse! It's called Chalk for its white pelt. I know, it's a sad name. Anyways, I insisted for my horse to be a mare because I'm a female 'Ma' too. Dad and I were arguing, him saying that stallions were way better but I was a stubborn little girl so, Chalk's been with me for years now.
Back to the present. Dad's in Chang An right now...for some odd reason. He got recalled by some man called Cao Cao. If dad doesn't come back by tomorrow, I'll make him suffer my wrath!
Sometimes, I really hate my impatient personality but too bad I can't change it. Poor me.
