Chapter One: Ripple
Sun Quan stood on the balcony outside of his chambers in his family's palace at Jian Ye. There was a full complement of soldiers, servants, and assorted minor official present on the grounds, but most of the higher-ranking generals were off fighting battles large and small at Wu's frontiers. It made the palace feel rather empty. Quan walked to the end of the balcony and stared out over his city and past the walls that protected it, looking to the north. Wei, as always, was the dominant threat to the kingdom with its massive standing army and "Hero of Chaos" for a leader, Cao Cao.
However, it was not the only concern of Wu at the moment. The red-robed prince turned his head so that he faced west, towards the land of Shu. We may have stood together at Chi Bi, but it seems as if our partnership will not last, he thought. Zhou Yu is a cool, calculating man, which complements my brother's fierceness and aggressiveness quite well. But the issue of Jingzhou and Zhuge Liang has made him lose his temper like I have never seen him lose his temper before. Ce tried to laugh it off when I brought it up with him, but I know brother better than that. He's concerned too. Zhou Yu is his best friend and no one in this kingdom holds a candle to his brilliance except possibly Lu Xun. If he's frustrated, that's not good. I only hope he succeeds in the Nan territory for the sake of his peace of mind and of our land as well…
Sun Quan walked away from the edge of the balcony and stepped back inside, sliding shut the door behind him as he reentered his room. Gan Ning had once jokingly said that Sun Quan had the only normal room in the Sun family. Well, perhaps there was some truth in the joke. Quan smirked. His father's room was typically the barest out of all of them; he simply never bothered to decorate, to give his space a "personal touch." Ce, on the other hand, should probably not be allowed to touch his room ever again if it was to ever be clean. His room was more chaotic and disorganized than the largest battlefield. Then there was Shang Xiang, his sister. Her room had more sharp objects in it than the palace armory. Finally, there was his room, which was ornate but tasteful, at least by the standards of most people Quan had known.
He was a little different from his siblings in that although he was a competent military commander, he found himself gravitating more and more towards the duties of a statesman rather than a general. It suited his talents better anyway, and many of the internal policies under which the kingdom was flourishing bore the stamp of his mind upon them. He was content with what he had accomplished and what he was. Although, sometimes, I suppose I do envy the glory Ce has managed to attain in battle…
Making a sudden decision, he grabbed his sword, the Master Wolf, from its place on the rack affixed to his wall and walked out into the hallway.
Father has always said practicing his sword's forms give him peace of mind, so I shall try that. Even though Ce usually gets bored when doing forms for his tonfas and proceeds to start beating wooden soldiers instead…
Sun Quan turned a corner and was promptly knocked to the floor as something big and heavy smashed into him.
"What!?" There was an unconscious palace guard lying on top of him. Growling, Sun Quan pushed the other man off of himself and stood up, finding himself face-to-face with…
A man's chest. He tilted his head back and looked up.
Lu Bu, mightiest warrior in all of China, the man who was said to be unstoppable, looked down at him. Eyes widening in a combination of shock, anger and fear, Quan leaped backwards, starting to draw his sword. But Lu Bu's foot was faster and his right leg extended into a powerful rising front kick. It smacked against Quan's chest and made his leap a little higher and farther than it was supposed to be. There was a loud thud as the prince bounced off the ceiling and landed on the floor once more several feet away with all the grace of a sack of rice falling from a cart. Coughing and sputtering, he rose back to his feet, albeit a little more slowly this time. Miraculously, he had maintained his grip on the Master Wolf, and finished drawing it from its sheath as he surveyed the bizarre scene before him.
The prone forms of no less than a dozen Wu guards lay strewn about the corridor, some very obviously dead. Lu Bu was in full armor, his infamous halberd, Sky Scorcher, firmly held in his monstrous grip.
Sun Quan's mind raced. Ridiculous, how the hell did that man get in!? And why is he here?!!
Then his eyes focused in on a slight glimmer from a pouch hanging from Lu Bu's side. The other man's noticed the direction of his gaze and pulled the pouch's drawstring, closing it. But that glance was all that was needed for it to be recognized. He had first seen it when his father had returned from the Battle of Hu Lao gate, and then many more times afterwards on its own pedestal in the castle's treasure room. It was the most precious piece of jade in the world, the Imperial Seal.
"You! What are you doing with the Imperial S-" began Quan, but his sentence was cut short as Lu Bu lunged forward, swinging his halberd in a massive horizontal arc, its blade ripping wide gashes in the stone walls as he swung it. The Sun only barely blocked, and even then, he shuddered from the force of the impact and stumbled backwards a few steps, bumping into a wall.
"Out of my way, you're wasting my time!" barked the warrior. Sun Quan advanced and made a fast vertical slash at his opponent's chest, but it was easily parried and Lu Bu swept the lower, bladeless end of his halberd up into Quan's stomach, causing the Wu prince to double over in pain and drop his weapon. Another kick put him on his back, and with a sneer on his face, Lu Bu raised his halberd and prepared to put an end to the fight, if it could even be called a fight.
Father, Brother, Forgive Me.
Sun Quan slowly closed his eyes.
There was the touch of the wind on the face one feels when running quickly and the harsh ring of steel meeting steel.
Sun Quan's eyes snapped open.
Lu Bu had retreated a little farther down the hallway and standing where he had previously stood was the tall, lanky frame of Zhou Tai.
"Are you injured, my lord?" he asked without turning his head, refusing for even a second to turn his head away from his adversary.
Despite the daggers of pain stabbing at him in a thousand places, Sun Quan responded with a "Yes."
"Good. Please sound the alarm," responded the former pirate. Quan opened his mouth to argued, but stopped when he tasted blood in the back of his throat. Half running, half crawling, he left the scene, leaving Lu Bu and Zhou Tai standing there.
"You should follow him, scum," said Lu Bu. Zhou Tai made no reply, instead pointing at Lu Bu with his sword, the Dusk. A smirk bent the taciturn general's lip for a split-second, and then he sheathed his curved blade and assumed a crouch. Lu Bu's eyes narrowed and he snorted, then charged his adversary, aiming the tip of Sky Scorcher straight at Tai's stomach.
Zhou Tai almost seemed as if he was simply going to let himself be impaled, but Dusk flew from its sheath with astonishing speed and deflected the assault on its owner with a slash that was as powerful as it was precise. Rushing forwards, he followed with an overhead slash at Lu Bu, but the other man pulled his halberd back equally fast and caught the attack in the center of its shaft. A furious flurry of steel erupted between the two. Chunks of rock and splinters of wood from doors flew everywhere from the oversized Sky Scorcher opened fresh gashes in the walls, floor, and ceiling. Missed slashes from Zhou Tai contributed even more debris, and the men continued fighting.
Then the gong began to ring.
Zhou Tai drew his sword arm back to make a stab at Lu Bu's solar plexus, but the bigger fighter raised his foot and then stomped down hard, literally crushing an impact crater into the stone floor. Tai was sent flying backwards from the concussive blast of air that resulted and hit the ground on his left shoulder. Clenching his teeth, he quickly used the remainder of his momentum to roll to his feet. However, his opponent had already burst through a door and jumped out of a window into the courtyard.
He thought he heard Lu Bu shout "We'll finish this later," but he ignored it and ran to the window Lu Bu had escaped through. In what seemed an impossibility, the famous warrior had already mounted his equally famous steed, Red Hare, and was galloping directly at the castle gate. The guards struggled to close it, but it was painfully obvious that it was too late. Trampling a soldier to death who tried to stop him and killing another with his halberd on the way out, Lu Bu left the grounds.
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This is my first submission ever to fanfiction.net, so please review! Praise and constructive criticism alike are encouraged!
Some notes/questions:
Obviously, I am straying from both the game storyline, the history, and the novel. Sorry!
Why the hell did I devote the first two thirds of this chapter to Sun Quan? I don't know, but he's definitely NOT the main character, or even one of the mains…
I tried to make this introductory chapter a balance of characterization and action.
Are you happy with my portrayal of Lu Bu fighting Sun Quan and Zhou Tai? He would obviously have killed Sun Quan easily, and he had the edge against Zhou Tai even though the ex-pirate was a much more formidable adversary. Zhou Tai would have been killed as well if the duel had continued, but I like him so he got away with getting knocked down. Lu Bu did fight Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei simultaneously in the novel, and I'm remaining true to that, however. He probably won't appear much, but he is hands down the strongest fighter in this story, although I wouldn't exactly say he's unbeatable.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~ Wujihong