Chapter 1, Dong Zhuo's Ambition

As dawn hit the prosperous city of Luo Yang, sentries of the night went inside to rest until

their next shift, while more guards came out of their quarters to patrol the city and it's massive

eastern wall protecting the city. The town slowly came alive as the sun went higher in the

morning sky. People of all sorts were leaving their homes to attend work that they had to do.

Merchants were already on the street shouting out what they were selling to the people as they

went by. Hunters were grabbing their bows and arrows, getting ready for a long's day work so

they could eat. Children were either running around and playing in the streets, or helping their

parents with work. Servants of the emperor were running to the palace hoping that their tardiness

would not get them executed.

A man, heavily cloaked with rags was descending a mountain just outside the gates on a

steed. He was a little taller than an average man, but not by much. He wore a hood over his head

which covered his face with it's shadow. He had a large object, which was covered with a cloak

as well, tied on the horse's side. His horse had armor covering most of it's head and it's body.

The steed had dark skin and hair and galloped at a fast rate without showing any sign of fatigue.

The man had long composite bow on his back and a quiver of arrows held down by the bow. He

had reached the bottom of the mountain when he stopped, dismounted his steed, and looked at

the incredible gate that had never failed to protect the people inside the city from invaders. He

thought this fact to himself. "Not yet, anyway."

At the same time, the sun rose in a place much farther away from Luo Yang, the people,

already moving around, and the city, already loud. Troops were practicing drills under the

supervision of a vassal of the prefect. Farmers, moving outside the city walls to attend their land.

Ministers, already inside the palace, discussing problems in the city and offering suggestions.

Commoners, building up the defenses of the gate itself. A squadron of trained troops, patrolling

the populous streets of the city. This metropolis was the city of Jiang Liang, a province much

south of Luo Yang.

Here lived a man of a little fame, little wealth, but of great skill. His name was Zhang Ce.

He was 23 years of age, and lived life as a farmer. Though he was not in the army, he had learned

swordsmanship from his father, who was a veteran soldier. His father took pride in his

profession, as he had been a soldier in the Han army for 6 years before he was disbanded with the

rest of the army. Zhang Ce had always wanted to fight in the army, but never had the chance,

since there had been peace for many years.

This peace, however, would not last long, as one man had the power to change it

whenever he felt like it. He had the power to bring peace in the country to an end. One man's

greed was enough to start a war that would take thousands of lives. This man was Dong Zhuo,

liege of the central plains. He had a tremendous amount of power at his command, but was

considered a tyrant by all of the other lords. His power was determined by his officers, as well as

the amount of soldiers in his army. He had amassed a force five times that of most other lords.

He was about to use this excessive power to use.

"What!?" exclaimed Zhang Ce.

"It says right here," his friend, Ma Yuan, points to a sentence on a poster as he reads,

"Look, 'Dong Zhuo, prefect of Luo Yang, has waged war on Ding Yuan, governor of Shang

Dang. The invasion is unjust and is going to be dealt with by those who have formed a coalition

against the tyrant.' you see? We're at war!"

"Nah, we aren't, I would hope so, but we're too far away."

"Too far away? The central plains can't be that far away, can it?"

"Can't it?" Zhang Ce points at the map next to the poster, "Why don't you go up there

and tell me what it's like? It's only about 3000 leagues." Zhang Ce laughed as he took another

gulp out of his drink.

Dong Zhuo had invaded Shang Dang, a province directly north of Luo Yang. He greatly

outnumbered Ding Yuan's troops, who was the governor of Shang Dang. However, many lords

saw Ding Yuan as a good man, and a great ruler, and went to his aid. Posters went up all across

China, saying that many lords had formed an alliance against Dong Zhuo. They were true, too, as

over a dozen different provinces formed an anti-Dong Zhuo coalition. Some of these lords were

Cao Cao, prefect of Chen Liu, Yuan Shao, governor of Bo Hai and Ping Yuan, Liu Bei, prefect of

Xiao Pei, Gongsun Zan, governor of the Northern provinces, Yuan Shu, prefect of Ru Nan, Ma

Teng, governor of the Northwestern provinces, and Sun Jian, prefect of Chang Sha, all of which

were very powerful men and had already sent troops to defend Shang Dang, and to invade Luo

Yang. Jiang Liang's prefect, however, was not involved in this, as he felt that his people weren't

ready for a war. He was right, too, as the troops were mostly peasants who had little, if any,

training in combat.

Zhang Ce greatly disliked this and, even for a little time, considered moving to Shang

Dang. But only for a little while. His parents greatly disagreed with him, so he dropped the idea

as soon as he brought it up. Despite this, Zhang Ce would continue to train whenever he had free

time, as he was determined that one day, he could prove his skills to the people.

The heavily cloaked man had stopped at an Inn in the heart of Luo Yang. He was on a

journey to find someone, but thought he could take a break in the city. In a tavern directly across

from the Inn, he was drinking a glass of wine, still wearing many rags covering him completely.

He was going over his thoughts when something happened that made him change his mind of

keeping a low profile.

"Come on sweetie, just a kiss!" a ruffian said as he pulled a waitress by the arm closer to

him. This was a common situation for the time, as taverns had no security. The waitress

screamed, "No!" as she tried to pull herself free from the man's grip. "Oh come, what harm could

it do?" he said as he grabbed the back of her head and pulled the waitress directly into him. But

he didn't feel her lips, instead he heard a quick shuffle of feet, then a sharp pain in his face. He

opened his eyes to see a man holding the waitress' hand, both of them were standing on the wall.

He only after a few seconds realized that the two weren't on the wall, but he was on the ground,

and had been punched so hard by the still-cloaked man, that he didn't know what hit him.

"Wha-What the hell is your problem?" the ruffian said, as two of his friends helped him to

his feet.

The man didn't answer at first, instead paying attention to the waitress. "Are you okay?"

The ruffian looked at the man with anger in his eyes and slowly approached him, cracking his

knuckles. "I'll teach you to mess with me!" With these words, the ruffian threw a punch at the

man. However, just when it was about to hit him, the man ducked, grabbed the ruffian's leg, and

flipped him over onto the ground. As the ruffian grabbed the back of his head, he yelled up at the

man, "You damn fool, I'll teach you."

However at that moment, at quick flash blinded everyone as the sunlight's reflection from

a sword lit up the room. When the temporary blindness went away, the ruffian could not get up.

Actually he could've but knew it was better for his health to stay down, as the tip of a sword was

pointing directly at his throat. If he merely swallowed, it would cut his neck. The cloaked man

didn't even look at him though, despite the fact that he was the holding the sword. "I think

you've had enough to drink for today, why don't you go back to whatever you do, ok?" he said

looking at the ruffian's two friends.

The two men slowly nodded, so the cloaked man brought his sword back up, allowing the

three to leave. Several people were surprised by the man's actions, as no had ever helped

someone they didn't know before. Before anyone else said anything, the man left the building,

sheathing his sword. He headed for the city's HQ.

In the city of Luo Yang, distrust was greatly sweeping through the citizens, as they

thought that they were going to be punished for Dong Zhuo's actions. Things were getting tense,

as reports of a massive army formed by the coalition was heading for Luo Yang. This

opportunity, however, was not about to slip from Zhang Ce's grasp. He immediately set out for

the main camp of the coalition with a few others who also wished to help the Allies.

"Okay, let's see, it says on this map, that we have to go that way!" Ce said pointing in a

direction that actually was southeast.

"Wait-Wait!"one of the others said, grabbing the map from Zhang Ce's grip. "Right here!

Look, if that way is where we came from, then this way leads to Luo Yang," he pointed directly

north. This boy seemed to know what he was talking about, but Ce didn't even know his name.

"See? Here's Chang Sha, and there is Luo Yang."

"Umm, yes I guess that makes more sense. Say, what's your name kid?" Ce asked.

The boy hesitated, he was 16 years of age, though by his looks he had the skills of a

veteran soldier. "My name is Xiu Luo."

"Xiu Luo, huh? Well then, why don't you be our tactician?"

"Tactician, what are you planning on doing?"

"Well, if everything goes as planned," Ma Yuan answered, "We should be recruiting as

many people as we can as we pass through the many villages on our way to Luo Yang. It is

worth a shot, at least we'll be taken seriously."

And as it turned out, they weren't the only ones wanting to help their country. On their

way north, about 100 people joined them. These people were only farmers and peasants, but they

had their own weapons and seemed anxious to get to battle, which would be enough to make an

impact. As Zhang Ce, Xiu Luo and another warrior that had joined them by the name of Lu Xian,

approached the main camp of the allies, they got nervous. All of the guards were wearing heavy

armor and carrying these massive weapons. They were not allowed into the planning tent, as the

main commanders were there, planning a strategy for this war.

"Oh come on, let us in! We have lots of people here who want to fight alongside your

troops!" Lu Xian shouted at one of the guards. Lu was a very tall and strong man for his age,

though his mind was not near as mature."

"I'm sorry but we just can't. Wait until after the meeting, then one of them might listen to

you." The guards refused to let them in, and one of Yuan Shao's officers who was not attending

the battle plan, noticed this. He walked up to the three.

"Excuse me, but are you planning on fighting in the upcoming battle?" the officer asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Lu Xian responded angrily.

"Actually I would. You see, I know the Grand Commander of the Coalition in there.

He's a relative of mine. I can tell him of your volunteer army, and I'm sure he'll think of some

way to get your troops involved. My name is Yuan Chu."

And so they agreed. Yuan Chu told Yuan Shao of the volunteer army, and Shao thought

of a plan. They planned on attacking Si Shui Gate, and wanted Ce's army, among many others, to

search and seize the enemy's supply depot. Happy that they finally had something to do, Ce's

army set out for the gate, along with the Allied Forces.

Back in Luo Yang.......

"Fine, Fine, I suppose we could use all the troops we need. Just tell me your name and Ill

give you a post as soon as possible."

"My name.......my name is He Ci Ke."

"He Ci Ke? Very well, Alright you go with Hua Xiong's unit." After writing something

down Li Ru looked up at the cloaked man, "He Ci Ke? Oh well........" And so the cloaked man

known as He Ci Ke joined Hua Xiong's army as they marched to defend Si Shui Gate. On the

way there, He Ci Ke was approached by a man who looked like a diplomat of some sort. "So,

you're that mysterious fellow that man was mentioning earlier."

"Hmm? Who?" He Ci Ke said.

"You of course! Who else could I be talking to? Anyway a soldier I talked to a little

earlier mentioned of a "Dark" man who almost killed him for no reason. I saw you talking to Li

Ru and so I thought you would happen to be that man. I understand that dark part, but you

probably didn't attack him for no reason, right?"

"He was disturbing the peace, I had to shut up him up somehow without being arrested."

"Heh, yea that makes enough sense. Anyway, my name is Kel Wei, what's your name?"

he stuck out his hand. Viewing Kel Wei to be a man of little importance, he answered,

"Otori Takeo, I'm from the land across the sea known as Japan." He shook Kel Wei's

hand. He saw what appeared to be a fort in the distance. "Well, we're here."