So, after playing a bit of DW7 my curiosity got a little out of hand. Sun Shang Xiang has this ribbon/feather bracelet on one of her wrists, and we all know Gan Ning has a thing for feathers.. So, I decided to have a little fun with it. Of course, my imagination got away from me and a short little drabble about a bracelet turned into a shot all about Lady Sun and how she started fighting. None of this is historically accurate in the slightest; Sun Ce is still alive - because I LOVE HIM and he'll live on forever in any DW fics I ever dream up :D This is mostly dialogue, so excuse the major lack of descriptions going on. I wrote it at like 3am, gimme a break! :P Aaaaand, yeah. Excuse the sappiness/fluff :P

Enjoy!

Feather

There was so much about him that intrigued her; she couldn't help the curiosity!

Since the infamous ex-pirate had joined their campaign and she'd first laid eyes on him, the questions had sprung up constantly. What's it like to live on a ship? Did you actually sail around attacking other boats? What did pirates actually do? And, the one question she'd refused to even acknowledge, save for the crimson blush she couldn't ever prevent from staining her face; What was the story behind all of those tattoos?

She'd never thought that, perhaps, he had the same desire to question her. And for many months, neither one of them found the proper time to ask. This day it seemed the fates had decided to take things into their own hands; She'd woken up at dawn, put on her practice armor and, armed with her trusty bow and a quiver of arrows, headed out into the practice court. It was a daily routine for her; this early, she didn't have to worry about running into any unwanted company. It was nice to train alone, without the ever constant reminder that she very much did not belong on the battlefield. She was a woman, and as such it should have been her duty to dote after a husband and bear his children.

Barf.

Sun Shang Xiang was no lovey-dovey, dress-wearing ninny. She was a warrior, a tiger just like her father before her, and everyone knew it. For the most part, her fellow officers showed her just as much respect as they did each other. Still, there were those who scorned the very idea of a woman doing anything other than housework.

Occasionally during her morning workouts she would come across one of her brothers; Se usually trained later in the day, but he also liked to spar with his baby sister to see just how strong she was growing to be. Quan, on the other hand, always seemed ill at ease when he came to watch her train. She would end up having a discussion with him about some problem going on between him and Shi, and her training would be left for another morning. Still, she loved her brothers, and seeing them always brought a smile to her face. So when she pattered down the steps out into the training area she wasn't alarmed to find the space already occupied. In the darkness she couldn't make out which brother had come to train with her, only that he appeared to be perusing the weapons rack. Calling out a greeting, she headed for the target blocks, the sun just beginning its rise overhead. She pulled an arrow out of the quiver on her back, took aim, and just as she released her hold, a voice she wasn't expecting caught her attention.

"Hey there. Didn't know princesses got up before dawn," he teased, and she didn't have to turn to put a face to the voice. She would know it anywhere.

"Well, it shouldn't be news to you that I'm no ordinary princess," she rebuffed, avoiding facing him lest he notice the suprise - and, undeniably, the excitement - on her face. It was brightening fast, but even in the dim light his eyes wouldn't miss a thing. She pulled out another three arrows and shot them simultaneously. Each hit the targets dead centre.

"Ya got that right," he agreed, though she could hear that cocky smirk of his in his tone, so she was expecting yet another barb. He didn't disappoint; " The ordinary kind're sweet and innocent." He let out a low chuckle and it sent tingles running through her. "That ain't how I'd describe you."

She shook her head, biting back a laugh of her own. Gan Ning was pretty much famous for his wise-cracks and back-talking. Some people had taken offense to it when he'd first arrived, but after spending some time with him both on and off the battlefield, almost everyone had grown used to his attitude, and had even come to respect him as a fierce warrior. Come to think of it, the only one that really seemed to dislike Ning was Ling Tong, which was weird because he got along with everyone. Yet another question to add to the ever-growing list...

The sun had finally decided to officially make an appearance; small flashes of light bounced off the metal arrowheads as she moved to take another shot. "I prefer to think of myself as adventurous," she offered, nocking another arrow. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the string and released, watching as the arrow sailed swiftly across the grounds before imbedding itself in the target, spot on. She was gonna have to start aiming at something more challenging at this point. Maybe she could convince one of her brothers to go hunting with her. Se would be up for a challenge; they could make a game out of it.

"I thought the chakrams were your weapon of choice?"

She jumped, turning to see that at some point he'd wandered over to where she'd been practicing. He was staring intently at the targets, looking to see how well her aim had been.

"The bow was my first love," she answered, running a hand smoothly over the engraved limb of the bow she'd had for almost as long as she could remember. She chanced a look at him again, to see if he might have lost interest. His gaze had turned away from the targets, instead to rest on her face. His eyes prodded her, curious. "Growing up, I got to watch both my brothers learn to fight." She couldn't keep the small smile from her face at the memories; Se, ever vigilant, attacking anything and everything he could, and Quan, always the careful, thoughtful one. Some things never changed. "And when I reached the appropriate age, I asked my father if I could begin my training."

"Bet he had a good laugh at that," Ning commented, though there was a strange hint of gentleness to his words that caught her off guard.

"Surprisingly, no. He didn't." She sighed. It had been some time since her father's passing, but it still pained her to think about him. About the fact that she would never hear his laugh, never watch as he continuously managed to school them all on the battlefield as well as in everyday life. "He simply asked me why I wanted to learn."

"What'd ya say?" Ning prodded, and she had to smile at his intrigue. It was oddly endearing to see him so engaged in a story. She should make a habit of talking to him like this more often.

"I said, 'Father, I want to be able to protect myself and those I care about. I want to help you bring peace to our land.' This was around the time Dong Zhou had appeared, you see. The chaos was only just beginning, and my father knew this more than anyone. He could see what the war was doing to the people, to us."

Gan Ning moved to sit down, sprawling out on the grass in a way that managed to draw her eyes to his upper body. Of course, he refused to wear a shirt of any sort - not that she was complaining. His chest gleamed with a slight layer of sweat; perhaps he'd been training before she'd arrived. The layers of muscle covering his body were taut, firm, and the many tattoos etched into them seemed to beckon to her. She wanted to reach out a hand and trace each one of them, to feel his skin under her fingertips.

"And what'd he have to say 'bout that?" He interrupted her thoughts before they could get too graphic, and her eyes quickly snapped to his face. The corner of his lips quirked up in a quick grin, and she felt herself flush. Before he had a chance to remark on just exactly what she'd been thinking about, she flopped down next to him. Setting her bow and quiver aside, she leaned back, resting on her elbows.

"He wasn't exactly satisfied. He claimed that my brothers and himself would be there to protect me." She raised her chin, looking up at the cloudless blue sky. "But I was a stubborn child."

"Child?" He chuckled under his breath, and she shot him a glare.

"I am not stubborn!" She declared, sitting up straight to stare him down. His grin only grew, however, and he lay back, placing his arms under his head.

"Whatever you say, princess."

She rolled her eyes before continuing with the tale. "I pointed out that he and my brothers couldn't always be there to protect me, that there were others that needed protection as well. And why should I have to hide behind others, when I knew I could be just as capable of protecting myself as them?

"It went back and forth this way for quite some time. Eventually, he agreed. He did, however, make a few rules. The most important was that I wouldn't be allowed to use any close-range weapons."

Ning nodded at this, a slight frown etching his brow. "Makes sense. You'd have bodyguards for that. He thought to placate you with a ranged weapon so you'd learn a fighting skill, but never have to actually risk your life in combat." He peeked at her, his frown once again morphing into that damned grin of his. She felt her heart melting into goo. "Betcha weren't too happy 'bout that."

She shook her head, giving a rueful smile of her own. "Nope. But he'd given me permission to train, which was a start. And train I did." She thought back to the first few weeks of her training; her father had asked Huang Gai to teach her.

None of the other men approved, and probably would have refused unless ordered to do it. Gai was different; not only was he one of her father's closest friends, but he understood her desire to learn. He also understood that he couldn't go easy on her. War was a serious matter; an enemy wouldn't show mercy, so there was no room for it in practice.

"He used to make me run around the estate for warmup. I remember the first morning he took me out. I threw up halfway through the first lap."

Gan Ning smirked at that, nodding in understanding.

"And the blisters! I would have to get my ladies in waiting to hold my chopsticks for me at dinner." She held out her palms, remembering the bloody mess they'd been before the skin had toughened, before she'd adapted to the sharpness of the bow string.

"What did your brothers think of all this?" He asked, that same look of honest curiosity on his face. It did something to her, that look. Somehow, it made her feel different. Special. Like she'd somehow managed to earn the respect of the entire land instead of just one man's attention.

"Oh, Se loved it. He used to hide and spring "surprise attacks" on me all the time. At least, until I broke his nose by accident once. After that our mother made him stop, so instead he just started sparring with me, teaching me some of his techniques."

"And your other brother? Lord Sun Quan?" She noticed the awkward way he spoke the formal address, like he wasn't quite used to it yet. It had to be hard, going from being your own master to serving under others. He'd fought for another man before Ce, but from what she gathered, he wasn't exactly worthy of the title "Lord", nor the respect that came with it.

"Quan didn't exactly approve at first. In fact, I think it sort of offended him." She nibbled on her lower lip, turning to look back at the sky once more. "He felt that by suggesting the idea that I learn to fight, I was saying that he and my brother weren't good enough." Quan had grown up with many insecurities, being the second son. No matter what they told him, he always seemed to feel less important than the rest of the family.

"So what happened to change his mind?"

She bit her lip harder. This was where the humor of the story ended. "My mother and I were...taken." She kept her gaze upward, watching as a pair of birds flew overhead. "We had gone with a small guard to visit her sister in a nearby city. A group of bandits attacked and, recognizing our family crest, chose to ransom us." A part of her wanted to look at him, to gauge his reaction. But she refrained from searching his face. She didn't want to break down in front of him, especially considering the situation. Nothing would ruin her tough-girl appearance more than her bursting into tears over something that had happened so long ago. He was quiet, so she continued. "I managed to take down a couple of them myself, but there were so many... We hadn't expected any trouble, so we'd only brought a handful of guards. They fell quickly."

The birds were chirping, singing a morning song to one another. She watched as one flew to rest on a neighbouring tree, hopping along the branches.

"It was a few days before my family was contacted, and a few more for them to reach us. We tried to escape once. We didn't get far. To make sure we didn't run again, they tied us to the leader's horse and said that if we tried to escape again, they would...well, suffice it to say that we had good reason not to attempt another escape.

"And then, one night, my father and brothers came to our rescue." She didn't need to go into detail. Gan Ning had surely seen many battles, likely much worse than this one had been. So, she edited that small part out of the tale. "After that, my martial arts training began. And that's the whole story."

He remained silent for a long time. She was about to chance a peak at him, to see if perhaps he'd fallen asleep, when she felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder. Blinking, she turned to look at him.

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to; his expression spoke volumes all on its own. There was sadness at what she'd had to go through, and anger at those that had put her through it.

She placed her hand on his, and they sat like that for a long time.

The sound of the breakfast bell made them both jump. Blushing, she let go of his hand and turned away. Snatching up her bow and arrows, she quickly pulled herself up off the grass. She turned to see him already walking away, whistling a tune she didn't recognize, that crazy long hair of his blowing gently in the slight breeze. She smiled at the jingle of bells that sounded with each step he took, and that smile quickly turned to a frown. She'd been completely off her game earlier if he'd managed to sneak up on her with bells attached to his person. Her gaze travelled lower, to the handful of feathers that he always wore. They were an array of different colours, and appeared to be attached to his shorts somehow. She was still staring when he spun around, raising a brow.

"You comin' or what?" He demanded, and she flushed all over again. Jogging up to him, they started their trek to the dining hall in silence. After a while, the curiosity finally got the better of her and she had to ask.

"What's with the feathers?"

He raised a brow at her again, before turning his back on her. "You mean these?"

She nodded, waiting for him to continue. He made a face. "It's kinda a long story. The short of it is, someone special to me used to wear 'em. When she passed, I started to wear 'em. To make sure I never forgot her."

"Oh." The insane amount of jealousy that flared up inside of her made her want to slap herself. He'd basically told her that someone he really cared about was dead, and all she could focus on was the "some WOMAN he really cared about" part.

She was a terrible person.

He watched her for a moment, and that same grin broke out across his face.

"You're lookin' a lil green there, princess."

"What!"

"Someone's got a case o' the old jealousy, eh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, sure."

"Oh get over yourself. Just because most girls swoon over your hot body doesn't mean I do!"

"So it's a hot body, eh? Good t'know."

"Ugh! That's not what I meant."

"'Course it's not. You meant to say I had a hot everything."

"Wow. Okay. I'm gonna sit over there. Where there's no room for you."

"Alrighty. Admiring me from afar works too."

She stormed over to squeeze herself between her two brothers, who'd already arrived. Despite constant pestering, she refused to explain just why her face was so red. Later, when Ling Tong tried to start up a conversation with her, she refused to look at him as she talked.

He was sitting a few spaces away from Gan Ning, who hadn't stopped laughing since he'd sat down.

That night, she was preparing herself for bed in her chambers when one of her ladies-in-waiting came inside, holding a small piece of paper with something underneath. She placed it in Shang Xiang's hands and, after smiling mischievously, disappeared without a word.

Lian Shi was helping her undress, and she paused to read the note over her shoulder, her curious expression morphing into a small smile. Ah, romance.

The woman was my mother, you moron.

And, by the way, I would describe you as magnificent. If you wanted to know.

Underneath the letter was an aqua-blue feather, attached to a matching ribbon just the right size to fit around her wrist. She slipped it on, admiring the way the feather shone in the candlelight.

It stayed on that wrist through many fierce battles, both won and lost. And Gan Ning was by her side for every one of them.

Fin