Chapter 2
The lone swordsman made his way through the valley's of central China. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, ushering in a bright new day for this otherwise dark and war-torn land.
The swordsman reached the peak of the hill and paused briefly to gauge the magnificent view. One eye remained permanently shut as the sun glared over his face. Though he was quite rough and scarred with many battles of the past, he still displayed a softer side which he would try and hide from everyone else.
He soon resumed his travel down the valley, scraping his thick steel boots along the scrappy dirt. Suddenly he came to a stop. He sensed someone was following him and quickly reached for his sword.
"Do not be alarmed." A regal voice came from behind. He turned to face a small group of cavalry. The voice came from the centre, a man clad in blue armour and a strange crown strode forward atop his black horse. "I am Cao Cao and I request your services for our next battle."
The swordsman gave no expression in return. He just remained frozen in his battle-ready stance, his dark armour had inspired others to refer to him as the Black Swordsman.
"I will give you a sufficient sum of money if you join. Double the veterans wage, in fact I'll triple it if your willing to join our forces." Cao Cao was not receiving any response from the stoic warrior.
Gat Su responded bluntly. "I'll pass." And began to walk off. Cao Cao almost felt insulted at his rejection and drew his blade. "SIEZE HIM!"
The small group of soldiers began pursuing at Su. The black cape rolled through the breeze as the soldiers charged. In one instant the lack Swordsman turned and hacked away at their horse's legs, causing the soldiers to fly overhead until they impaled themselves on the rocks further down the gully. The others managed to stop their horses just in time only for Gat Su to slice off their heads. In just two sings the Black Swordsman had managed to take out Cao Cao's entire consort.
Gat Su walked back up the hill to face Cao Cao who was holding back his fear by grinding his teeth.
"Grr...Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan NOW!"
Gat Su felt a small but sharp pain in his back. He turned and plucked out an arrow from his shoulder. Another arrow was heading his way but he caught it with an iron hand.
"Drat, he's good." Xiahou Yuan said to himself as he hid amongst the bushes. He turned to his brother. "You better deal with this one."
Xiahou Dun smiled at his worthy opponent. "Hmph. Very well." He sprung out of the scrub and raised his Scimitar high over his head. Gat Su slowly turned and brought out his cumbersome sword. Xiahou Dun felt the weight behind his blade almost immediately.
That man...He carries such a large sword, but normally it would be too heavy to pull out in a surprise attack.
Xiahou Dun kicked back off his sword and kept a modest distance. Then he realised. It's not the blade that is most terrifying, it is the wielder himself who is terrifying. He took a moment of hesitation to plan his attack then struck. If I can throw him off with my speed then I can hopefully find an opening with that large sword if his. He rushed around, circling his foe with his Scimitar dragging behind. When Gat's had enough he slashed his sword horizontally directly across Xiahou Dun's path. Before the giant's blade could connect he ducked under his blade and found his opening. Without a moment to lose he went for his left side. However he had miscalculated his foe's tactic and was faced with Gat Su's Iron Gauntlet.
"GAGH!" Xiahou Dun was punched in the chest but it felt like he had been hit by a battering ram with that Iron fist.
"Brother!" Meanwhile Xiahou Yuan watched from the bushes and released a volley of five arrows from his bow. Gat Su Lifted his cape over his body and seemingly used the light fabric as a shield for the arrows. As the marksmen reloaded his arrows he was confronted with a dozen arrows. All four pierced his armour and if it weren't for their scattered aim he may have died. He sat up and noticed a crossbow attachment on the Black Swordsman's Iron Hand.
Damn. This man's the ultimate killer.
"HYAH! DIE!" Xiahou Dun attempted an attack from behind but Gat Su dragged his sword upward and slashed across the black haired warriors chest. Gat Su held back on his last attack to make sure he didn't die but the wound was enough to cause him to collapse unconscious.
"BROTHER!" Xiahou Yuan sought to avenge his brother and clambered out the scrub with his mace. Gat Su zipped out of sight and punched the overweight fighter in the Guts (quite ironic I guess). Xiahou Yuan coughed as the wind had been blown out of his body. As he doubled over Gat Su slammed his elbow down on the back of his neck, completely knocking him out.
The Black Swordsman tidied up his cape and noticed the two warriors as they lay idle on the ground. He heard Cao Cao clapping in over the hill. "I am indeed very impressed. It seems your even stronger than I had imagined. Those two men you just fought were my cousins and the two strongest warriors in my entire army. Tell me Black Swordsman what is your name?"
"Gat Su." He covered his mouth with a piece of his cape.
"Gat Su, sounds like an appropriate name for a merciless warrior such as yourself." As Gat Su turned away Cao Cao continued. "Tell me Gat Su, what is your ambition in life?"
The dark warrior stopped in his tracks and spoke with a very deep voice. "I have...none..."
Cao Cao was somewhat irritated by the man's response. "Then what is your purpose in life? Are you saying you challenged Lu Bu just for the spur of the moment?"
Gat Su spoke in that same voice again. "I don't wish to pursue someone else's dream...that is all."
Confused Cao Cao intercepted Gat Su on his horse. "Tell me what you want and you can have it? It is gold? Women? All the soldiers you could ever wish to command? Surely you must want something out of life?"
Gat Su was getting irritated, if not for the first time. "Get out of my way." He was faced with Cao Cao's blade. He noticed the assortment of engravings on it's flat.
"If I can't have you, then noone will." He swore vengefully.
"I wouldn't do that." Gat Su responded calmly.
Cao Cao scoffed at his words. "You think I became a General through mere diplomacy? HAH! Do you know what they call me around here? I am the Hero of Chaos, and there's no way I will let anyone challenge my ambitions."
"Dammit get out of my way!" Gat Su drew his blade but this time it was blocked. Though his opponents sword was seemingly much shorter it felt as though it possessed the same force as his own. Gat Su jumped back as the noble warrior parried his attack.
"You may indeed be a strong warrior, but you lack the tact and skill of a more experienced swordsman such as myself. He pulled his steed's reigns and charged, hacking his sword along the ground to try and dig up Gat Su. He wrapped himself around Cao Cao's blade, his weight bringing the Hero of Chaos to the ground. They grappled for a moment before Cao Cao found his sword and blocked an oncoming strike. He kicked Gat Su off him and swiped his sword across Gat's footing. He followed through that attack with an upward slash and then again with a diagonal slash. Though he was agile for his age, Cao Cao soon realised he had underestimated his opponents agility as well. He slashed several more times in a flowing motion, but his sword dance was not not enough to intimidate Gat's iron will. Gat's slid his sword horizontally but Cao Cao just managed to save himself with his sword. The force threw him to the side.
As Gat's dug his sword into the ground Cao Cao rolled out of the attack and pressed his sword against Gat Su's neck. "It ends here, I can kill you with one twitch of my hand, please do something rational for once and join me."
Cao Cao had learnt to expect the unexpected with this warrior but he had not expected what happened next. In one last act of desperation Gat Su held back Cao Cao's blade...with his own teeth. Cao Cao tried to wrench out the blade but Gat Su had already clamped down his jaw like a steel vice. As Cao Cao struggled he noticed out his periphery his two comrade cousins were beginning to wake up. He endured the Black Swordsman's berserker sword mauling for a while longer until the two brothers managed to lock their blades between Gat Su's neck.
Cao Cao laughed softly. "It seems you really have no choice now, so what will it be...Black Swordsman."
The stoic warrior spat out a bunch of chipped teeth and smirked with confidence. "You'll regret the day you asked me to join you."
I went with the Black Swordsman version of Gat's coz his so much more badass like that. If you've only watched the Anime series you won't appreciate his character the way I do. So now it seems Gat Su is reluctantly serving the Wei army. How will he fare in his next battle following a man he hate's orders? Find out in the next epic chapter!
