Disclaimer: If Dynasty Warriors were mine, Gan Ning's DW6 costume would be shirtless. And his hair would be better... And his musou... oh gods. Haha. Well, it's not bad.
A/N: Yi Ling has not happened yet (well since Liu Bei and co. are alive and all...), and neither has He Fei.
And what can I say? I found a way...
As a side note, the first section is exactly 100 words! And each paragraph is 50 words! Yeah...
Thank you to Sashaness for the review! I was so happy when I received it! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Chapter 2 – Surprise: Headfirst Into Flames And Don't Look Back!
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The little clearing in the woods was the only thing that was lit for, well, not even one mile around, but bear with it please. There, one figure knelt, still, almost within the fire's hungry reach. Quickly, it became apparent that he was praying, in a determined and resolute tone.
"Oh Father, I won't fail you. Thank you for giving me this chance to right my wrongs. Thank you for giving me this chance to return home. Thank you for allowing me to help my siblings again. I will not fail you. I will see that they never find out..."
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"Okay, so, during the fight, some dying Wei guy pulled Lu Xun's hat down with him into the ravine," Gan Ning began, then stopped. He really didn't know what to say... fortunately, his hesitance was covered by a pretty little gasp from Sun Shang Xiang.
"You don't say that he..." she exclaimed, foreseeing what happened next and Gan Ning nodded. "Yeah I do, princess," he said, and lifted his gaze so that it was once again facing the entire audience and, in this way, failing to see the small frown that crossed her face. "Anyway, so we spent a quarter of a day which you spent worrying about our deaths making our way down the ravine. Finally, we get there, but just as I spurred my horse to go the last step, it stops! No matter how much I coax it, it just doesn't move." He surveyed the audience again, half expecting a sarcastic comment from Ling Tong, but it did not come. The comment from Sun Quan had really gotten to him it seemed.
"Yeah, so Lu Xun starts talking about how the music has changed. And I look at him all strangely, since well, there was no music playing. It was quiet as a baby." Gan Ning thought for a while. "Actually, that's a bad example. Anyway, he shudders, and then says it sounds ominous. I have no idea what he's talking about, so I get off my horse and check it out. But then my horse stamps on the rock we're standing on, so that a few stones run down into where I was going to go..."
"...and an ambush party starts their assault," Zhou Yu finished with a nod. "Interesting... very interesting, indeed."
"You understand what his story means, Zhou Yu?" Sun Quan said eagerly, and Zhou Yu shook his head. This shut the whole tent up pretty quick.
"No," Zhou Yu clarified, "but I have some sort of idea—"
"Lord Sun Quan! Lord Sun Quan!" a messenger called, running into the tent. As he knelt, he was breathing hard, but instead of waiting to regain his breath he continued to try to speak. "It's... It's Lord... Lord... LORD SUN CE! LORD SUN CE HAS RETURNED!"
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"Wow," Sun Ce said upon seeing everyone rush out the tent, "Everyone's changed. Hey Bro!" he said, giving Sun Quan his trademark grin and suddenly making it feel like he'd never been gone at all.
Shang Xiang couldn't believe her eyes upon seeing her brother, in the flesh, alive again, talking and laughing. Her world had had crashed down when the arrows had struck him all those months ago. And just when she'd begun to pick up the pieces, he'd showed up again.
"Wow," Sun Ce said again. "A couple of new people. You'll need to give me an update, Bro. And – Oof!" He was suddenly taken by surprise by a hug attack from his rapidly tearing sister. "Damn it, Shang Xiang, I think you've grown heavier in my absence!"
Shang Xiang started to cry now, hitting her brother with her fists, making sure that he was really there and not some sort of freaky collective dream. "You see me for the first – time in a year – and this is all you can say to me?!" she yelled, and Sun Ce started to look alarmed. He hadn't even lasted 5 minutes in the camp before making a girl cry. He was just about to stutter out an apology, when Shang Xiang, quieter now, continued, "It's okay, you idiot. I just missed you so much!" She hugged him tight, and Sun Ce patted her on the back awkwardly.
"Wait," Sun Quan said abruptly and the general atmosphere of joy stopped just like that. Sun Ce gave an admiring whistle at the power his brother held.
"Not bad for a year, Quan!" he began to say, but was cut off.
"Sorry to have to do this to you, Ce, but you can't be too safe. What did you do to Zhou Yu upon meeting him?" the younger Sun brother fired out authoritatively.
"Whacked him on the head with a bamboo stick," Sun Ce answered promptly. "Man, that was funny..."
Zhou Yu's eye twitched. Good job Sun Ce. Not 10 minutes in camp and you've already pissed off your best friend.
"And what did you do when you visited me in bed the next day?" he demanded, perhaps a little pettily. Sun Ce hadn't expected this, and he looked around the camp, and when he saw that all eyes were on him he pouted.
"Can't I just tell you alone, Zhou Yu?" he begged his friend. "Come on... a talk between men!"
"Not till you prove your identify," was the level reply and Sun Ce sighed.
"I was a good and kind, unselfish friend," he began, "andIsangyoutosleep." It was obviously a source of extreme personal mortification for him, as he shut up upon saying it and folded his arms in a defensive gesture. "Are you going to make me repeat it slowly?" he challenged Zhou Yu boldly, jutting his chin up.
Zhou Yu laughed softly. "Maybe next time," he said, approaching his childhood friend. "It's been a while, Sun Ce. Welcome back."
"I should be the one saying that!" Sun Quan said loudly, embracing his brother and sister. Then he turned to look back at the camp. "You know what?" he continued, in the same loud voice. "Screw the Wei invasion! This calls for a party! Break out the wine!!"
The resounding cheer was wiped out, however, by Sun Ce.
"Actually, I think you should save the celebrations for later, Bro," he said matter-of-factly. "The Wei are going to attack our palace in five days. Where's Lu Xun? I need to speak to him."
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At this moment, the target of conversation was heading angrily away from the Wu camp. He had been undermined, made fun of, laughed at! And okay, he was a little sensitive about losing his hat. But seriously, did all of them have to ask?! He'd answered Ling Tong and Lord Sun Quan contentedly enough, answered Sun Shang Xiang with a small smile because she'd been so damn shy about it, and had answered Taishi Ci later in the day, getting tired of the whole spectacle. Soon everybody in the Wu camp had heard of his loss of hat, and insisted on rubbing it in his face! And just imagining the potential reactions of his fellow generals back at home was giving him a headache. Lu Xun was not a happy camper! And now, his important discovery had been ridiculed as well. It was really too much! And so now he was riding away from the Wu camp as quickly as he could, not in the direction of the Wei camp of course, when all of a sudden a lit clearing caught his eye.
Anger fully extinguished and replaced by caution now, Lu Xun slow down to a trot and then finally a walk as he approached the clearing, ready his twin Eagles just in case. When he felt that they could not get any closer without being heard, he dismounted and crept into the clearing, twin Eagles always in front of him, so that they could retaliate against any possible enemy.
Imagine his surprise when he saw a head, floating in a fire.
"Oh, my God," the head said, although the tone was nowhere near one of distress. In fact it was near conversational and seemed wholly unimpressed at seeing Lu Xun.
"OH MY GOD!!!" Lu Xun shrieked and began to back away, but stopped, perhaps, out of a respect to the owner of that head, when the head ordered, "Wait!"
"Thank God," the head continued. "I thought it was my son again. I swear, if I hear another 'Pop' from that boy again, I swear I'll die... well, die again, that is," he added, musing to himself.
Lu Xun's eyes popped out and his mouth hit the floor at that moment. All the facts pointed to one result, one extremely bizarre result... Lu Xun had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.
"Lord Sun Jian?" he finally asked.
"That's my good boy!" Sun Jian's head said, satisfied, bobbing in the fire vigorously. "You always were one of the most observant ones. I mean, you even spotted the whole thing with the background music... Gan Ning was just sadly oblivious."
"Wait, Lord Sun Jian." Lu Xun was much too flabbergasted to remember his manners. As it was, his brain grasped on the only thing he could think of, a logical discrepancy that kept his brain sane. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Gan Ning? You died before he arrived..."
"You find out a lot of things in Heaven!" Sun Jian replied cheerfully, with a hearty laugh. "Say, where's your h—" However, and Lu Xun was thankful for this, Sun Jian stopped half way through the question. "Somebody is coming," he said. "I'd talk to you more, but I really cannot reveal myself to anybody else. I hope to see you soon, young Lu Xun!"
And just like that he was gone. Lu Xun blinked, not even sure himself whether it had all been a hallucination, but was distracted by a call.
"Who's there – Come out!" It was a young voice, but authoritative nonetheless. Figuring that Sun Jian would have warned him had danger came, Lu Xun stepped closer to the voice, and nodded at the Wu soldier.
"What is it?" he asked nonchalantly, as if him straying a mile from the camp in anger was a normal occurrence.
The soldier was speechless for a while, probably thinking about how to phrase his message probably, and Lu Xun waited patiently. Eventually, he could not wait any longer, and headed for his horse. "Yes?" he prompted as he mounted.
The messenger finally found his tongue. "Um... General Lu Xun... Lord Sun Ce requests your presence, sir," he said, then added as Lu Xun stared at him blankly, "He appeared at our camp just under half an hour ago."
It made absolutely no sense to Lu Xun, but he nodded, and accepted the facts as they were. I mean, having just seen the head of your former leader bouncing merrily in a cushion of flame was liable to make anybody doubt the world. "Thank you!" he said, urging the horse to start at a gallop back. And what else could he say but that?
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"Don't ask how I know," Sun Ce said once all the generals were assembled in the tent again. "Just trust me on this one." He tapped at the map on the board with one of his tonfa.
"We need to set off tomorrow. Cao Cao has some officers stationed in Runan which is just a little over a day's hard travel away from our capital. In the next few days, they will travel to Niu Zhu Castle, five hours from our walls. On the other hand, we are at best two days, at worst five days away from Jian Ye. I have no doubt that our castle will be able to repel the forces for a short while, but unless we return swiftly our capital and the Wu Empire will fall. Especially as you are not within it to give the soldiers support, Emperor," Sun Ce finished, giving his brother a small smile, but it quickly turned grim again.
"Also, Cao Cao and his camp west of us will soon be moving over to aid the invasion. Zhang He, Cao Pi, Sima Yi, the lot. They will require a day to rest after you owned them so badly, giving us at least this much time—" Sun Ce stopped as he saw the generals staring at his strangely. "What is it?" he asked, a little annoyed. "Have I grown a second head, or something?" Now was not the time for jokes!
Zhou Yu was the first to recover from the sudden usage of that foreign word. "Nothing, Ce," he replied smoothly. "Please continue. I don't know about the rest of us, but I was just thinking about the interesting vocabulary you've picked up on your... travels." Yeah, 'travels' was the word.
Sun Ce blinked. "Well, I'll explain it all later after we celebrate our victory," he said. "Everybody needs to rest well, so I'll end today's meeting, but tomorrow I will hold another one. Suffice to say, we are rushing back to Jian Ye starting tomorrow. Is that all right, Bro?" he asked him after catching his eye.
Sun Quan nodded. He would have to have a serious talk with Ce once everything was settled down, about the position of Emperor, but for now, he was content to let him guide.
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"Lu Xun, could I keep you for just a few minutes?" Sun Ce asked as one by one, the tired generals filed out of the tent. "You too, Zhou Yu."
"Yes, my lord?" Lu Xun asked once the three of them were alone in the tent. "Yes?" he asked again, when Sun Ce did not reply, instead frowning a little.
"Oh, forgive me Lu Xun," Sun Ce suddenly said, and Lu Xun jumped a little. "I was just thinking of the best way to phrase this." Lu Xun nodded, and waited for him to continue, and Sun Ce eventually did.
"You know how today you discovered something?" he began, and Lu Xun immediately looked so relieved that Sun Ce felt bad for having to say what he said next: "Well, forget it."
Lu Xun blinked, and blurted, "Excuse me, my lord? But I believe that it would be very important—"
"It would be extremely beneficial to our camp, I agree, but using it would just be playing with the heavens," Sun Ce said firmly. "Do you know why I'm back? Both of you? The forces above sent me on a mission, which happens to be to prevent the world from further finding out about what Lu Xun realised today. If I fail, I will be sent back in disgrace. If you tell anyone, or if anybody finds out, I will disappear. So please, Zhou Yu, do not try to figure it out, and Lu Xun, do not try to tell anybody despite the temptations. I am not lying, or exaggerating, when I say that this knowledge in the wrong hands could bring about the destruction of the world."
Silence. The elder Sun had spoken with such uncharacteristic gloom and seriousness that the words sunk it all the more deeply.
"Won't people just find out about it in the future, whatever it is?" Zhou Yu finally asked. "You're not going to live forever, you know. And China is going to progress."
"Actually, you don't know that," Sun Ce replied and cleared his throat. "About me not going to live forever, I mean. Ahem. Anyway. To answer your question, they won't. With progress will come more and more forms of entertainment, and as the people's attentions are focused on them they don't actually figure it out. For the next two thousand years, anyway," he said. "I couldn't see any further than that." A shrug, as if it was plain and simple like that.
"Treat it as a form of intuition, Lu Xun," he finished, sensing that the young Wu officer was still full of doubt. "Many people know what you know to a small degree. That is what they call the 'sixth sense', the ability to sense when the situation's off. Imagine what the world would be like if people like Sima Yi could manipulate it. Cloud the sixth sense, or make it go haywire. The world would be in chaos."
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Two days later...
Having rested at Xia Pi, the Wei army was now marching as planned to Niu Zhu and Jian Ye to reinforce the planned attack. Cao Cao had listened to Sima Yi's plan, and had deemed it acceptable, even going as far as to give the man a pat on the back.
As ordered, the generals stationed in Runan and near that area had all started to move to Niu Zhu Castle. So far, Xiahou Dun, Yue Jin, and Zhang Liao had reached Niu Zhu, while Xun You, Xun Yu and Yu Jin had yet to arrive. Some other generals also in the surrounding area had also started their march. The rest of the Wei generals had been ordered to stay in the west of Wei country, in case Shu decided to invade.
Sun Ce and his camp were ahead of Cao Cao, but only slightly. The sheer size of their camp meant that movement was slower than hoped, and things were not looking good.
In Jian Ye, Lu Meng, the Qiao sisters, Zhou Tai, Cheng Pu and a couple of other generals were relaxed and content, spending their days worrying only for their Emperor, and their nights with fine dining, dancing and laughing. The messenger Sun Ce had sent them had been intercepted and killed. They had no idea what was in store for them, no idea of the attack that Sima Yi had planned...
But hey, they were skilled warriors, right?
Right?
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Right now you are probably thinking... OMG! THERE ACTUALLY IS A PLOT! As well as WTF IS UP WITH THE LAST SECTION!
The answer is... I don't know! Or rather, I won't tell you! (: But please don't get your hopes up.
Please leave a review!! Or... I don't know, I'll make everybody fall in love with Liu Bei!