Hu Lao Gate

"Where is General Zhao?" Gongsun Zan asked his cousin Yue with a vibrant tone of annoyance in his voice.

"He's still outside his tent talking to his bird," replied Gongsun Yue, "I'm beginning to wonder about that kid. Where did you find him again?"

"That kid will carry this army to glory no matter how crazy the boy may seem!" Gongsun Zan said with more anger than before, "Hurry and fetch him Yue, the generals are about to discuss their battle plan!"

The generals that made up the coalition against Dong Zhuo all sat in a large tent and waited for their leader, Yuan Shao, to give them the strategy to break past Hu Lao Gate.

Zhao Yun in the meantime was walking to the tent wondering if what he had just witnessed was real. An old man appeared out of nowhere and told him to fight Lu Bu. The man that called himself Zuo Ci never told him why he had to fight Lu Bu, maybe it was because everyone just exaggerated Lu Bu's abilities and for that everyone was afraid to fight him and that Lu Bu was going to kill someone of value because of this. Maybe Zhao Yun actually had a chance despite- with the exception of a few battles- being fairly new to the battlefield. On the other hand, the man could just be as crazy as Yun thought and was going to get Yun killed.

Zhao Yun made his way to the main tent and brushed the tent flap out of his way, "Sorry I'm…" every eye was locked on him. He was late. Yun did his best to try to not look as embarrassed as he really was. He tried to subtly sit down by Gongsun Zan, who was equally embarrassed as Yun was, but Yun fumbled and tripped over all of the other officers and they just glared at him even more.

"Ahem, as I was saying," Yuan Shao continued and all of the officers concentrated on the map of the layout of the gate and it's roads. "Dong Zhuo's troops are nothing to fear. I am positive that all of you will have no problem stampeding right through their lines, the real trouble lies with the man I am sure you all know of, Lu Bu. He will most likely be waiting near the main entrance of the gate and therefore, we must all approach the gate with caution."

"I have been told there is a man of near equal strength by the name of Zhang Liao." Said Cao Cao, one of the lead vanguard generals.

"Yes, Zhang Liao may be an obstacle in the way of our path to victory but he may just take more time to defeat than Dong Zhuo's other generals. He will be nothing compared to Lu Bu." Yuan Shao replied.

"That's not what I've heard." Cao Cao said under his breath.

Yuan Shao gave the overall strategies to all of the generals and it was upon reading the battle plans did Zhao Yun realize how great of a commander Yuan Shao came to be.

I will just have to prove that I am worthy of his strategies.

Zhao Yun and the rest of the White Riders forced their way through the enemy lines. The only trouble they had was when they faced Zhang Liao and his cavalry. Yun engaged Zhang Liao's forces and they both fought for a considerable amount of time. Guan Yu, who was a general under Liu Bei, engaged Zhang Liao in a dual alongside Zhao Yun. Zhang Liao knew he was out-numbered and had no choice but to withdraw. Zhao Yun tried to cut off his retreat by jumping over the enemy line and positioning himself behind Zhang Liao. Liao knew this was the end and awaited the young general's attack, but it did not come. Yun stepped aside, rethinking about what he was doing.

"For the sake of honor I shall let an enemy retreat." Yun declared.

"You have my thanks brave general." Liao said graciously, "Tell me your name White Rider."

"I am Zhao Yun of Chang Shan."

"Thank you Zhao Yun. Your acts of kindness will not be forgotten!" Zhang Liao shouted as he road off with what little troops he had left. By now, every base and fortress had been captured and all that remained was Hu Lao Gate. They all charged the troops that guarded the gate. They cleared the way for the engineers to set up catapults.

Zhao Yun thought he was doing extremely well; he brought down scores of troops and plenty of officers along with them and his spirit was as high as ever. If he wasn't able to defeat Lu Bu, he sure felt like he could. After the catapults had knocked out the gate defenses, the battering rams did their part and started working on the North Gate. The troops around it fought off the enemy soldiers that tried to stop it. Eventually, the battering ram broke through and all of the soldiers around it charged for the open gate, and then they heard the thunder. All of them were stopped in their tracks by the thunderous roar that approached. At the peak of the thunder came Lu Bu and his famed horse Red Hare. He slaughtered countless troops and officers and everyone else ran either in fear or to find another way around.

Yun saw this as his opportunity. Whether he believed in Zuo Ci or not, he was going to fight Lu Bu. He charged at Lu Bu with his horse and blind sighted him off of his horse. Without a word spoken the two began to fight. Zhao Yun held his own for the most part but was on the defensive too much. There is no way around this demon! He thought. He blocked Bu's attacks for minutes and he steadily grew tired. Yun knew he couldn't hold off much longer and he knew that Lu Bu knew this as well. If I am going to die here, I will not die evading his moves! Yun thought. He tried going on the offensive by using swift strikes at Bu's midsection but was too tired to deliver them quick enough and Bu blocked most of them. The ones that did get through were just thrown aside by Lu Bu's massive armor. Yun tried using stronger attacks but was too slow and left himself wide open. Lu Bu kept knocking Yun aside with the blunt side of his halberd and he let him attack again and again.

"Such a child…" Lu Bu said with an unusually calm voice. It was then that Zhao Yun realized that he was no match for the God of War, and the great demon was just toying with him. Yun became enraged and started blindly attacking at random.

"I've had enough!" Lu Bu shouted and deflected one of Yun's attacks with such force that Yun's own spear hit himself in the head and caused him to become disoriented. Lu Bu came in for a strike and hit Yun in the left side of his ribcage. Yun's armor took most of the blow but Bu's halberd still managed to cut flesh.

"AAAAAhhhh!!!" Yun screamed in pain and waited for the final blow.

"HAH!" Zhang Fei shouted as he cut down another enemy. "Say brother." He said to Liu Bei looking to his right and noticing Zhao Yun's fight with Lu Bu. "Isn't that the kid who you talked to at the camp this morning?" Liu Bei glanced over to his right as well and noticed that Lu Bu had struck down the man known as Zhao Yun.

"We have to help him!" Liu Bei said remembering the man's kind heart and how he chose reasoning before fighting.

"Aww really?" Zhang Fei said, "We don't have to." But Liu Bei was already chasing after Lu Bu.

"I believe we do brother Fei." Said Guan Yu. "We have to support our brother on all of his decisions. He sees something in that boy that we don't and we have to uphold that." Guan Yu said following after Liu Bei.

"Rrrgh" Zhang Fei growled as he defiantly followed his two sworn brothers.

Zhao Yun waited for his life to end by the hands of Lu Bu, cursing himself for believing in Zuo Ci. But the blow never came; he opened his eyes and saw a blurred image of what seemed to be four men fighting. He closed his eyes saving his strength and started to fade into unconsciousness. He then heard one calm, comforting voice after another, both uttering the words "Relax, you are safe now. Everything is going to be alright." The first voice was the one he had heard earlier at the main camp but the other voice was unfamiliar. The voice sounded as if it belonged to that of… a woman.