A New Kingdom
A/n: Sorry for the long wait! I was banned from the computer for some reasons, so I wasn't able to update the story! I'm really really sorry!!! Anyway, thanks for your helpful review, Jenizaki. Chapter 1 edited, thanks for your 'guide'!!! And thanks to domtaco, Afrotaco, Jenizaki, freedomcall803 and Xiahou Ayumi for reviewing this story! And thanks again to Jenizaki and Xiahou Ayumi for putting this story in their favorite list!
And Ayumi, telling you about whether I will kill Sun Ce or not will spoil the whole story… But a clue is, Sun Ce's my favorite character! :D
Afrotaco, you'd find lots of cursing in the upcoming chapters XD And I'd try to make the chapters longer… I haven't been used to write long, long chapters like VraieEsprit does with her stories… (If you have ever read her stories). She's just too awesome :D
Chapter 2 :: Escape To The North ::
Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors don't belong to me... Characters and battles belong to Koei, although Koei adopted it from the San Guo Yan Yi, so for short, everything belongs to Luo Guanzhong... xD
Sun Ce took a bottle of water and drank. He grinned at his wife.
"We've traveled pretty far, eh? Don't think that bastard Quan would find us… Dammit, I would've never thought that he would turn against me!"
Da Qiao gave her husband a smile.
"Yes, it was indeed unpredictable. But… You were lucky that you had overheard his conversation, so we were able to escape in time…"
Sun Ce gave the water bottle to Da Qiao, who immediately drank.
"We were indeed lucky. But I have a feeling inside me saying that Quan would send someone to look for us… Because I don't think he'd be satisfied if we escape. So we should hurry. Once we arrive in Wei, Quan wouldn't be able to do anything."
Da Qiao nodded in agreement.
Sun Ce got up, and offered a hand to help Da Qiao up. The two of them climbed their horses, preparing to continue their journey.
Meanwhile, in Wei, a young Cao Pi was begging his father so he would be allowed to take a walk outside the gates of Wei.
"Please, Father! I've never been out of Wei! I've never even been out of this castle! How am I supposed to be the king someday when I don't even know what's going out there?" Cao Pi pleaded.
"My son, you should know that everyone is busy at the moment. No one would be able to accompany you on your walk..."
"I don't need anyone to accompany me! I can do it alone! I can ride a horse myself, and I wouldn't cause any mess or trouble! I'm already a big boy now. Father, please..." the young boy looked at his father with begging eyes.
Cao Cao thought if he could find anymore excuses that would make his son stay at the castle. He heard that Yuan Shao was about to attack one of his castles, and he was busy. If he let Cao Pi go alone, it might be too risky, considering that Yuan Shao might have spies walking around, and who knows if they would kidnap his heir. He'd lost his first son Cao Ang, and he didn't want to lose Cao Pi. Cao Pi was intelligent, and would make a suitable heir for him.
The military genius thought for a while, and caught a sight of the sky out there. Grey clouds were decorating the horizon. Cao Cao smiled.
"It is going to rain, Zihuan," Cao Cao said with a smirk. "Do you still want to take a walk?"
"Yes! Yes! It's because of the rain I want to go! I love the rain!" Cao Pi said with a kid's happiness on his face. Cao Cao couldn't think of anymore excuses, thus let his eldest son go.
"Fine, then. You may go. But make sure that you would have arrived back at the castle before lunch," Cao Cao sighed.
"Yay! Thank you, Father!" Cao Pi said happily, bowing to his father before he left the room.
"And make sure you'd wear something that can cover you from the rain! I don't want you to be sick just because you're adamant to go for a walk," Cao Cao added as Cao Pi walked out of the room.
"I will, Father," the boy replied as he walked towards his room to take extra clothing to cover himself from the rain as his father told him. Then he walked happily towards the stable. When he arrived at the stable, he went straight to his own horse, and grinned at the groom. The old groom smiled back at the young prince.
"Lord Cao Pi, where are you going? It's going to rain soon," the old man asked.
"I'm going for a walk! It's so boring at the castle! I'm going to be the king someday, and I have to know what's my country like!" Cao Pi explained. "I'm also going outside the country for a bit," he added.
"Ah, well, be careful on the journey, then. And the city and citizens might be very different from what you've imagined. Ah, well," the old man chuckled.
"I will! And I won't be surprised! I've often heard what my teachers and my father's officers talked about the city," Cao Pi told the groom. Cao Pi pressed his heels to his horse's body, telling it to start walking. The horse started walking, and soon it began to gallop. As they exited the castle gates, Cao Pi began to feel excited and his eyes looked everywhere, eager to get a new sight of the world. It was still quite early, not more than seven o'clock in the morning, yet the citizens had began their activity. The shopkeepers were already opening their shops, and the farmers were walking to their rice fields. Everyone bowed at the young prince when he passed. Cao Pi smiled at them, feeling incredibly happy. The horse had marched in the city while its rider was staring at everything keenly. It had begun to rain softly, yet the young boy still enjoyed the air of the city. It felt so different than it was in the castle.
Cao Pi and his horse had taken quite a long walk in the city, and soon they headed to the gate. He would be entering the border of his country and Jiang Dong. He had heard from his teachers about the infamous Chang Jiang river, which is extremely long and was said to be the longest river throughout the land. Outside the gates was a big, big forest, with an air much different compared to the air in the city. Cao Pi enjoyed it very much, inhaling as much as air his lungs could handle. It felt very fresh. The horse was also enjoying the different place, and neighed happily.
Sun Ce and Da Qiao were still on their horses. As the rain began to fall, Sun Ce laughed.
"Hey, Da Qiao. Look! It rains! It hadn't rained for a long time now, what do you think would happen? Something good, huh?"
Da Qiao smiled.
"Rain had always been a good sign... It brings good luck. Hopefully... This rain would do some for us, too."
Sun Ce laughed again.
"Ha-ha... Of course it would bring us good luck! This rain would be the sign that we would arrive in Wei safely!"
The horses continued to gallop as the rain fell softly upon them.
"We're already close! Faster, horse!" Sun Ce pressed his heels to the horse's body, followed by Da Qiao. The horses galloped faster. As they went closer to the gate of Wei, a figure riding a horse approached them.
"Two people - hm," the figure observed. He stared at Sun Ce and Da Qiao's face for some time, and gave a sharp gasp.
"Uncle! Auntie!" he exclaimed in recognition.
Sun Ce observed the man who claimed to be his nephew-in-law.
"Ah, it's Zixiao's nephew! Zihuan!" Sun Ce recognized his nephew-in-law.
"What are you doing in Wei, Uncle? Aren't you busy governing Jiang Dong?"
Sun Ce thought for a while, and decided that it would be best to tell the problem to Cao Cao himself, and not to Cao Pi, as Cao Pi was still a little boy.
"Ah, it's nothing... I came to see your father! I have some things to be discussed with him -- urgent matters."
"Oh, I see, I see! Please follow me, I'd take you to see him. Father hasn't been busy lately, and I'm sure he would be happy to see you."
Sun Ce and Da Qiao immediately followed Cao Pi. Sun Ce grinned at his wife.
"Who would have thought we'd meet Zihuan? I thought he was to stay at the castle until he becomes the king in the future..."
Cao Pi turned at the mention of his name, and said, "I begged to Father so he would let me go! I was so bored at the castle, there was nothing fun to do! Everyone was busy planning the war, even Mother was helping Father with it... And my brothers are still studying! I've finished mine yesterday, so I'm free today!"
"Oh, you must be a shrewd kid... Finished everything already while everyone else are still studying..." Da Qiao complimented the kid.
"Indeed I am!" Cao Pi said proudly, and added, "Thank you!"
In the lands of Wu, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Taishi Ci and Lu Meng were preparing themselves for their search of Sun Ce.
"Sun Ce... Where could he have gone? And why would he go, anyway?" Zhou Yu mused.
"It's just not like him to go without any reasons. At least he would have told Zhou Yu," Lu Meng said. "Something should be up, something might not be right," he muttered.
"What couldn't be right?!" Taishi Ci intterupted. "He has most everything... He's the current ruler of our country, he has a happy family, he's a strong fighter, he always wins the wars... What could be less?"
Huang Gai chose to remain silent.
"I think," Zhou Yu broke the silence between the men. "There is something threatening Sun Ce, here. That was why he chose to go."
"Something... threatening...? What could be threatening him?!" Taishi Ci was confused.
"I don't know... But Lu Meng was right. He wouldn't have gone without any reasons. But... Him going without telling any of us, he might be in a very dangerous situation. Who knows, anyway," Zhou Yu shrugged. He stood up from his sitting position, "Let's go. The only thing we must do now is to carry out Zhong Mou's order -- to find Sun Ce."
"Yeah, let's go," Taishi Ci agreed with him. The others also rose from their sitting position, and went to collect the men.
Sun Ce and Da Qiao had at last arrived in Wei, with Cao Cao's young heir Cao Pi. Cao Pi presented the two guests to his father.
"Father, Uncle Bo Fu and Aunt Da Qiao came from Jiang Dong to visit you... Uncle said that he has a secret important thing to discuss with you," Cao Pi told his father.
"Ah, I see, I see... Okay then, Zihuan, you'd better change your clothes and prepare for lunch. I'd talk to our guests first," Cao Cao ordered his son.
"Yes, sir!" the young boy exited the room and ran to his own room. Cao Cao ordered the guards to close the door.
"Ah, it's been quite a long time, isn't it, Sun Bo Fu?" Cao Cao greeted with a wide smile on his face.
Sun Ce grinned at his companion, "Yeah... Who would it be if it isn't me?"
"My son told me you have a private matter to discuss... What would it be?" Cao Cao asked, full of curiosity.
Sun Ce looked left and right, and replied, "If you don't mind, I'd rather speak it up without these guards listening..."
"Ah, I see. Guards, wait outside!" Cao Cao ordered the guards. "So, what is it?"
Sun Ce directly spoke, "May I ask your protection and stay here, in your land of Wei, for a while?"
Cao Cao looked surprise. "Why so suddenly? I heard you are the governor of Jiang Dong?" he asked curiously.
"Ah, it's... It's my brother Zhong Mou," Sun Ce answered.
"Your brother Quan, is it? What's with him?"
"Well... He had some plan with some guy named Yu Ji to kill me... He wanted to poison me to death when I'm sleeping, and I think he knows that I'm escaping and he's sending troops to find me. If I'm staying here, there's nothing he can do, especially if I have your full protection," Sun Ce said frankly.
Having the Little Conqueror on my side would be a very great advantage. And it's not possible that he's a spy, either. First, if what he said just now is true, he brings his wife with him. Second, it's not like there is a ruler who would be sent to be a spy, Cao Cao thought.
"Fine then... You have my full protection and you and your wife may stay with us. But you must abide by our rules and help us out in battles, especially the ones not involving your own land," Cao Cao announced his decision.
"Thank you, Meng De, you have my deepest gratitude," Sun Ce said. "If you had rejected my request, I wouldn't know where I should go."
"Don't think about it too much. Having you on our side would be a great advantage itself, besides, we're still relatives. Surely you still remember the marriage of Zixiao's daughter to your own brother, right?"
"Ah, yes, of course. I went here because I had remember about that," Sun Ce admitted. "Anyway, thank you again."
Yay! They've arrived in Wei! Damn, that chapter was hard to write! I had to edit it several times, plus I'd lost several lines due to my own stupidity so I had to rewrite some sentences... And the lost ones were the ones that were most difficult to write! :p
Anyway, I have to explain some things to avoid confusion...
1. About the usage of the kingdoms' name
Until now, I'm still calling "Wu" as "Jiang Dong" and "Wei" as "Cao Cao's land" as I still don't know where is Wei located... This is because technically, the era of Three Kingdoms hadn't started at that time.
2. Currently, the incidents are taking place in the year 199, right after the Battle of Wu Territory. That explains why Cao Pi is OOC for the meantime, because he was not more than a 12 years old kid then.
3. I'm leaning more to the history and the book San Guo Yan Yi (Hokkien: Sam Kok; English: Romance of the Three Kingdoms) than to the story, because many events had changed in the game. For example, in Sun Ce's Musou Mode in DW 5, he lived until the Battle of Xia Kou, while he actually should have died. The same had happened in the others' Musou Mode... I'm just too lazy to explain everything :p
4. I am and will be using courtesy names and childhood names instead of only the names which are used in the game. My reason is, courtesy names sound much more familiar when they address each other, and so are childhood names. I am providing the list of courtesy and childhood names I use in each chapter, but in the upcoming chapters, I'm not repeating myself with the names I have written.
List of Courtesy Names (currently no childhood names are being used):
(Sun) Bo Fu: Sun Ce
(Sun) Zhong Mou: Sun Quan
(Cao) Meng De: Cao Cao
(Cao) Zihuan: Cao Pi
(Cao) Zixiao: Cao Ren
I might have missed some names, so please tell me if I do and I would add them to the list. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! I do need feedbacks!