HI! :D Thank you so much to my reviewers. Thanks for the honest reviews and the constructive criticism. It helped me to write more carefully. Do tell me if I have made another mistake. Well, here's chapter two for you lovely people! Dedicated to my reviewers and my reviewer at lunarspear x3
CHAPTER TWO; CHANCE
Normally dawn would be the wake up call for Gan Ning to wake up. He would do his routine. He would run a hand through his messy dark hair while yawning, slump back on his bed for a few minutes before getting up again and stretching his arms and relaxing his neck muscles. Then he would walk over to the bathroom and wash his face, do what people do in bathrooms, change into his Wu attire with the black feathers, then grab his weapons and leave his bedroom to practice his skills alone in the field outside the Wu palace steps.
But not today. He had been up the whole previous night on his horse, riding around nowhere in particular. It wasn't because Gan Ning wanted to take his horse out; it was because the horse wouldn't shut up.
Gan Ning woke up at 12 instead; his eyes squinted as bright daylight shone through his bedroom window onto his pale face. He groaned and turned to his side so the sunlight couldn't burn his eyes through his eyelids. The weather was burning today. He could feel heat inside his stomach. Annoyed, he threw the blanket off, showing off his half nakedness. And even though he was half naked, he still felt like he was being put in an oven. "Damn it…" He cursed, kicking himself out of the bed.
He had a quick shower and threw on his clothes, grabbed his weapons and headed for the kitchen to grab a quick bite. He entered what seemed like hell as smoke clouded his vision and nose. How do these chiefs ever survive in the heat and breathing all this in? Well…they could ask him the same thing. Ling Tong was getting annoyed at watching Gan Ning wrap tobacco into a stick on a piece of paper and light it up to put in his mouth every hour. And obviously, Ling Tong's advice remained ignored.
Gan Ning used one of his short swords to pierce through a meat bun and exited the kitchen. Two chiefs starred at him as he exited, not turning back. One of them turned to look at the other whom in return, gave a shrug and went back to work after saying, "What do you expect? It's Gan Ning." The chief rolled his eyes and went back to work too.
Gan Ning took a seat at the steps of the palace. He pulled out the meat bun from the sword and chewed on it. It was now 12.30 in the morning, and he was already sweating as much as Huang Gai would on a normal summer day. The weather has never been anyone's friend. It was so unpredictable, it was laughable. After finishing the meat bun, he got up and readied his position.
"Practicing all by yourself?"
Gan Ning raised his eyebrow. When the voice registered into his head and dug out who the voice belonged to, Gan Ning cursed under his breath and wished he was back in the kitchen instead of here.
&
Ling Tong was bored. If death by boredom was possible, the young officer would be dead by now. He was supposed to be sparring with Lu Xun, but the young strategist had to go for a meeting with his fellow strategists. He knew that meant that another battle would be occurring in no time. He had asked Ling Yun to spar with him, but she said she had to do something important. And heck yes, she was doing something rather important. He sighed under the blistering heat as he chewed on a meat bun, doing nothing else but think about how different life would be if there was no war. Everybody would be thinking what it would be like, right?
Revenge was never a pretty thing. In those years he swore to avenge his father's death, he knew that a general had to complete an assigned task. He wasn't exactly assigned to avenge his father and kill Gan Ning, but he had assigned himself to kill him.
&
"Sir?" A soldier tapped his general's shoulder lightly.
Ling Tong's eyes were tightly shut. It burned to have tears in his eyes and with the help of the scorching sun in the sky; especially at this time of the day. Revenge was the only thing that was running through his mind. Revenge…kill…Gan Ning. He wanted justice to be done upon the man who had slain his father. And he would be more than happy to be the one to bring justice.
"Sir…?"
Ling Tong ignored his lieutenant general who was repeatedly trying to bring him back into solid reality. Gripping the nunchaku in his hand, he left an order for his lieutenant general to take charge of their mission. He had his own mission to accomplish, even if it would take ages to complete it.
Running was something Ling Tong excelled in. It was an advantage as he would be able to reach his already sworn nemesis in a short period of time.
And there stood Gan Ning. That son of a bitch Gan Ning.
He pulled out his sword from a Wu soldier before yelling with threat in his voice, "Who's next?!"
Ling Tong ran and smacked Gan Ning with the nunchaku straight on the head. Unfortunately, the blow was not strong enough to crack open the pirate's head. The pirate did, however, stumble to the ground. He could feel a light trickle of blood down his head as he stood up and grabbed his sword.
"Me." Ling Tong growled, stretching the nunchaku.
"You're pretty brave kid," Gan Ning chuckled, pointing his weapon directly at Ling Tong. The sunrays that hit the metal of his sword reflected into his eyes, and he had to squint.
"But are you as strong as you are brave? Idiot." Gan Ning added, earning a glare from Ling Tong.
"You're going to regret you ever met me…" Ling Tong charged at Gan Ning, a full blow on him. Gan Ning defended the attack, although he almost fell backwards. As soon as the officer with the nunchaku drew back his weapons, readying another attack, the pirate took a leap back and pointed his weapon a distance away from Ling Tong.
"Pretty tough ain't ya, pretty boy?" He almost laughed.
"You have not seen tough yet, bastard." Ling Tong cursed, charging forward.
&
Ling Tong could laugh at how he behaved back then. How angry and determined he was to kill the man who was simply doing as he was instructed. Being known as 'The kid with vengeance on his mind' during that period of time was frustrating enough. He wanted to be known as somebody who cared for those he loved. Oh so much.
He could only wish now, that Ling Yun could see the good in Gan Ning instead of seeing only the bad past.
"What are you thinking?" Taishi Ci asked, standing beside Ling Tong.
Ling Tong shrugged, "About a lot of things. The usual stuff like how our lives would be like if there was no war. But mostly…I'm thinking how peaceful our inner lives would be if Ling Yun could change her perspective on Gan Ning." He explained.
The buff man beside him gave a small nod and a pat on the back. "She's a woman. Her feelings are deeper than a man's."
The younger officer managed a nod and a smile.
Taishi Ci 'coughed', making Ling Tong raise his eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He knew that kind of cough. The kind of 'cough' that started with 'You do know that…'
"You do know your sister has gone sparring with Gan Ning…right?"
&
Gan Ning ran the back of his hands across his sweaty forehead and replied, "Yuh, why?"
The slender figure stood in front of him, every strand of hair tied up into a neat ponytail, with only a streak of fringe at the middle of her face down her nose, her nunchaku in hands, ready to battle. "I just thought the weather was perfect for a sparring match between you and I. Without an audience. It's so perfect, I can almost laugh at it," The sarcasm made Gan Ning groan, "Then laugh."
Ling Yun chuckled, "I'd try to make this as quick as possible. And don't worry; I have no intentions of killing you. I just have an intention of wishing I could,"
"You and your brother share more than just the same blood and family tree. You share the sarcasm gene too." Gan Ning scoffed, putting down his weapons. If looks could kill, Gan Ning would make the perfect roast dinner for the other generals. Ling Yun's grip on her nunchaku tightened, and her eyebrows narrowed.
"You're quite the sarcastic person yourself I noticed," Ling Yun said, her free left hand on her hip. Gan Ning smirked, "Not half as sarcastic as you and your brother are, sunshine,"
"You have to learn to say an insult about me that does not include my brother, Gan Ning. And my name is Ling Yun, not sunshine." Ling Yun shot back.
"Please do not say your name out loud. I have a 'my mind' situation going on up here," Gan Ning said, putting his index finger to the side of his head. Ling Yun almost laughed, but not because he entertained her- well he did, but in the way which gave her great advantage to fling another insult in his face.
"Oh, that is tragic. We better get you to the healers immediately before 'your mind' becomes that of a ten year old," She crossed her arms, glaring harder at her sworn nemesis. Gan Ning glared at her. He shook his head and walked away from the sister of his sworn brother. "You scared or something, sunshine? Scared I'd knock the daylight out of your eyes?" She challenged, making him stop in his footsteps. A sly smile formed across her lips.
"I'm not fighting you and you know it. I will not harm you. It's my personal duty to protect you and your brother." He said, and continued walking. Ling Yun stayed glued to where she stood. Her expression did not change. She shook her head while smiling. "I don't need you to protect me. I can protect myself better than you and Tong can. I'm smarter, sunshine. And it's my personal duty to spar with you today. And I'd make sure I get to it." She said.
That was all it took for Gan Ning to turn back and face her like the man he was. "Fine." He muttered annoyingly, drawing his weapons. Ling Yun stretched the nunchaku; he could hear the metal being strained tightly. His weapons down, he said, "When you're ready. Just know that I'm going to be easy on y- ow!" Gan Ning took a few steps back, clutching at his stomach. Ling Yun remained at where she stood, swinging the nunchaku with a neutral expression on her face.
"This is supposed to be a friendly sparring match, sunshine!" Gan Ning pointed out, his sword doing the pointing.
"That was friendly. You haven't seen unfriendly," Ling Yun said, stretching out the nunchaku once again.
Gan Ning scowled and drew his swords to a defense mode as soon as he saw he swinging the weapon his best friend once used to fight him. Man…could they be anymore similar?
"And how can you expect me to be friendly when you weren't very friendly to my father?" Ling Yun finally brought up the subject. Gan Ning was hoping so badly that she wouldn't bring it up.
"I was doing what I was told to do, sunshine. How many times do I have to say this?" Gan Ning groaned tiredly while blocking her hits. She had already given him quite a hit on his stomach for starters. Another hit there and he would be on his knees. That wouldn't happen now, since Gan Ning is pretty good in defense.
"I'm not trying to kill you anyway. I'm just waiting for the day the great 'Gan Ning of the bells' gets slain on the battlefield." Ling Yun said coldly but calmly, then, she drew back her weapons for a massive hit to Gan Ning. Once again, he defended the hit, but had to step back a little due to the strength of the hit.
"Geez. You're a violent one." Gan Ning sweated.
Both noticed that Gan Ning has been doing nothing but defend.
This was starting to annoy Ling Yun.
And I thought one violent woman was enough He thought to himself, referring to Sun Shang Xiang.
Gan Ning noticed that every hit she made made him back away a little bit, and he was now just a few feet away from the wall behind him.
"You were pretty violent with that arrow of yours back then." Ling Yun remarked, making Gan Ning roll his eyes.
"Look, sunshine. It's not my fault that senior Ling died from a single arrow!" Before he wished he could take back those words, he was pinned to the wall, choking as metal chains pressed against his neck with a smack to his face.
"Calm down! Will'ya? It wasn't meant to offend you!" Gan Ning was choking for air now.
"Of course it wasn't. It was meant to insult the dead!"
Ling Yun's face was inches away from his. She made sure he was staring right into her eyes. Whispering into his ear with words so cold, it almost made him freeze under the heat, she hissed, pressing the metal harder to his skin with each sentence.
"My naïve brother might have forgiven you for what you did to our father for a reason that everyone but me finds is an amazing thing. I, on the other hand, Gan Ning. I do not forgive your actions. You be thankful that I'm not allowed to kill you, Gan Ning. Or this move I just inflicted upon you would be the last you ever see and the very air you are breathing now would be knocked out of you, permanently."
With that, she released her grip upon him.
Gan Ning fell down on one knee, his other knee sitting up and his elbow resting there, gasping for air. Lu Meng wasn't wrong when he said Ling Yun was fast.
"Gan Ning!" A hand grabbed him to his feet.
"Your sister has gone mad." Gan Ning scowled, pushing past Ling Tong violently.
Ling Tong watched his best friend walk away until the figure grew smaller and smaller, and eventually, disappear. Ling Tong shook his head and followed his sister, who walked away slowly from the scene.
"What is up with you?" He asked calmly. He remained ignored. Ling Yun still walked on, like she always did whenever he asked her a question she wouldn't want to answer.
He stood in front of her and glared. "Did you have to do that?"
His twin glared back. "No. I should have done more." She brushed past his shoulder
"Why can't you just let go?!" Ling Tong raised his voice, making her jump a little.
"Why did you?! You know what he did to father. You saw what he did, didn't you?!" She shot back, tears welling up.
"Have you thought of how many people might have grudges against you if they found out that you killed their son, husband, or father?" Ling Tong was close to shouting now.
Ling Yun just stopped at her footsteps.
"Don't you know it's because of people like you that we are now facing war? It's because of people like you. People who are like me the last time. Just let it go! Why can't you give him a chance?" Ling Tong added.
After a long moment of silence, Ling Tong walked to his sister's side.
"I know you're angry that he killed father…but you can't have a grudge against him forever." He said softly.
Ling Yun blinked, and fresh tears poured down. She shot a killer glare at her brother.
"Or can I?" With that, she walked away, leaving Ling Tong alone in his thoughts.
TBC
NEXT CHAPTER (3): WITHER