A/N: I've had slight writers block on this story. But I'm back in business now, as I remembered my super awesome amazingly brilliant idea! Which isn't actually that super awesomely amazingly brilliant, actually. Oh well. Enjoy anyway!
Disclaimer: See chapter one. Jesus, you'd have thought the hounding lawyers would have got the idea by now wouldn't you?
Over the next week, nothing unusual happened in the Kingdom of Wu. The land was, by and large, experiencing a moment of peace, and the sound of laughter filled the halls of the great palace where the generals lived. The weather was perfect - sunny, with a light breeze, and few clouds skittering across the clear sky - which meant that everyone spent all day outside.
Na Mei sighed happily from the branch she was perched on. Her brother was making an incredibly speedy recovery, and was currently sitting in the grass by the base of the tree. The only thing left to show of the brutal attack from the tiger was the three long scars on his forearms, which already looked weeks old. It always amazed Na how fast Sying could heal from even the worst of injuries.
"Hey, Sying!" She called out playfully. Her twin looked up at her.
"Yeah, Na?"
"Doesn't that cloud look like a horse?" she said, pointing up at the cloud in question. Sying looked up, shielding his eyes from the glare.
"Looks more like a dog to me..." He replied, grinning. Na squinted back up at it.
"... No, I'd definitely say horse..."
"Na Mei! Sying Long!" came a voice from behind them. Startled, Na jumped slightly, losing her balance and nearly falling out of her tree. Once she had regained her balance, she looked down to see Lu Xun running towards them. They watched as he reached the foot of their tree, where Sying was now stood. Na swiftly dropped down from her perch, and stood next to her brother.
Once again, Xun was surprised by the incredible similarity between the two. He blinked, before remembering why he was out there in the first place.
"Lord Sun Ce has given us permission to visit your old village. That is, if you want to." he added, seeing the look they gave each other.
Na was surprised by the sudden offer, but Sying spoke up for them.
"When would we leave?" He asked.
"In about half an hour, meet down by the stables." and with that, Xun was off again. Na watched him go before turning to Sying.
"I'm not sure if I want to go back..."
"Neither am I, but it has been over a week since we went missing. The other villagers will wonder what happened to us – and you must admit, it does look a bit suspicious that we managed to escape unharmed. Besides, we need to pay our tribute to Mother, and then we can see if anything survived the bandit attack."
Na looked at the ground at the mention of her mother.
"I had totally forgotten about Mother out here. And you're right." She crouched down by the tree, staring dejectedly at the ground. "But it doesn't make it any easier..."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sying crouch down beside her, and felt his arm snake its way over her shoulders.
"I know, Na. It isn't easy for me, either. But it needs to be done." He said in a low voice. "Mind you," he added, looking around him, "First, we need to find the stables!"
Na looked up at her brother, smiling slightly. After a week with nothing to do but get to know the place, she knew where just about everything was. She stood up again, with Sying following suit, and looked at the sky to see the time.
"Come on, the stables is over here. If we set off now, we should get there on time." She set off, at an easy pace, with Sying following her.
"I knew you'd want to go. Besides, looks like Lu Xun will be accompanying us." He said, in an off-hand manner.
"And? It's not like I fancy him, or anything. I don't even know anything about him, yet."
"Doesn't stop most people."
"Why all the assumption, all of a sudden, anyway?"
Sying said nothing, tapping the side of his nose. Na rolled her eyes, before punching him in the arm, making it go numb.
"What was that for?" Sying protested, rubbing his arm.
"You know. Anyway, come on, Lu Xun will be waiting for us."
Lu Xun looked up from the horses he was preparing to see the twins running towards him. He walked over to greet them.
"You ready to go, then? It's only a half hour journey on horseback." Xun smiled as he walked with them over to where the horses patiently stood.
Na looked up at the magnificent beasts in front of her. They were both at least 12 hands high, with elaborate but simple designs on the dyed red saddles. Huge muscles rippled under their glossy coats. She felt a bit intimidated, as the horses looked down their noses at her. She looked over at Xun, who was mounting a particularly fine black horse.
Xun looked down at them from his perch, saw their expressions, and grinned.
"Don't worry, these two look fearsome, but they wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, maybe a fly, but not you two."
Sying looked at Na, and they shared a single, worried look.
"Let me guess: you don't know how to ride a horse, do you?" The twins looked up at Xun, who was looking slightly amused, and nodded simultaneously.
"I didn't think you did, which is why I chose these horses for you. They're the easiest for new riders. But I don't think you should have any trouble." Personally, Xun pitied the horses, if the twins turned out to be who Zhou Yu thought they were.
Sun Ce was bored out of his skull. All day, there had been strategy after boring strategy shoved under his nose for his approval. He knew it was for the good of the kingdom, but really, this was all more Zhou Yu territory. Ce yawned, and slumped back into his chair.
'I hope Yu managed to find something on the legend - speak of the devil...' He thought, as the doors at the other end of the hall swung open, and Yu marched up to him. Ce could read his friend like a book - unfortunately for him.
"It's bad, isn't it?" he sighed as Yu came up to him, holding what looked like a leaflet. Yu merely nodded, before wordlessly handing him the small scroll. Ce read it for a few minutes, before looking back up at his sworn brother and advisor, a questioning look on his face.
"What does 'Indubitably' mean?"
Yu rolled his eyes. He should have expected it, he told himself.
"It means 'without a doubt', Ce." He answered wearily.
"Oh."
Five minutes later, Ce spoke up again.
"And 'Inevitable?"
"'Unavoidable and obvious'." Yu looked at his friend. He obviously didn't understand half the words on the scroll. Not that they were easy, but Ce had always worked better in battle than with his head in a book.
Finally, Ce looked up, looking slightly puzzled and quite annoyed.
"Where did you get this from?"
"A man called Yu Ji as handing them out in the market square. It is causing quite an outrage." Yu carefully worded his answer, because he knew Ce didn't fully understand the accusations on the scroll, and didn't particularly want him to.
Suddenly, the door burst open again, and Suns Shang Xiang and Quan came through, the former brandishing an identical leaflet. Yu braced himself.
"Ce! Have you seen this scroll!" burst out Quan. Shang Xiang took one look at the scroll on Ce's lap and his slightly puzzled expression and spoke up.
"It's insulting us! Well, you, at least. And some of the soldiers are looking a bit unsure of which side they're on!"
"WHAT?" Yu opened an eye to see if it was safe, and saw that he was the only one in the room who didn't look like they wanted to kill someone. He sighed inwardly. It was going to take some quick thinking to calm down the royal siblings this time...
Sying sighed happily. The weather continued to be fine as they rode on through the sparse bush, no one saying much as the village came into view. Sying slowed down, so he drew level with Na.
"You ok about this?" he said quietly.
"I have to be. For Mother. Plus, this may be the last time we are here. We both have things to do."
Sying nodded. All the way here he had been battling with himself, trying to find the will to do the difficult task in front of them, and he knew it was just as difficult for his sister.
As they rode into the circle of huts that was their village, an old lady looked up and saw who it was.
"Bless my soul, if it isn't Na Mei and Sying Long! We were so worried!" she cried, rushing over to them. The pair grinned as the rest of the villagers came over, and dismounted.
Xun also dismounted, and watched the siblings being greeted by their old neighbours. He was feeling... well... slightly jealous of the two – seeing them being greeted so positively brought back memories he would rather forget, of when he had been forced out of his village... No. This isn't the time or the place. Stop thinking about it. It happened. That's all there is to it. Even so...
He gave his head a slight shake, put the thought to the back of his mind, and silently scolded himself. Looking back at the twins, he saw they were surrounded by people now.
"We were so worried -"
"- Such a shame about your mother -"
"- So glad you're alright -"
"- Worried senseless -"
"Where have you been?"
Na blinked. As soon as the villagers had realised they were back, they had been inundated with questions and commiserations. But there was something else, beneath it all - oh, dear heavens, no... She had never realised before, but after being in the Kingdom of Wu, she saw it all to clearly. They had always been so popular because the villagers were scared of them. She was aware of Sying speaking beside her.
"... Mother saw the bandits coming, and told us to run. We were heading for the safe spot, when we were attacked by a tiger. Na managed to... fend it off, and, next thing I know, I'm in the Wu imperial palace!"
One of the villagers turned their attention to Lu Xun.
"And who is this fine young man?"
Na turned to see that the old woman had her attention trained on Xun.
"This is Lu Xun, from the palace." The minute the name left her lips, there was a collective gasp and the villagers bowed as one. Na had half expected them to, but it was still a bit of a surprise when they did.
Five minutes later, they broke away from the little crowd and managed to find the remains of their old life.
Na gave a dry sob, while beside her Sying gasped loudly. The house was a charred pile of rubble, with streaks of melted metal mingling with the occasional colour that managed to, miraculously, survive the intense heat of the blaze. Xun paused, visions of flames and shouting passing before his eyes – for a second, he knew what the twins were going through – but he pushed the memories firmly aside, and went back to the task at hand.
Tying the horses to a nearby tree, Xun went over to help the siblings. As he was sifting through a pile of charred wood, something caught his eye. He straightened up, looking at it. It was a piece of parchment with some writing on it that had been blown away in the blaze. He walked over to it, picked it up, and placed it in his pocket. He would check it when the gruelling job was over.
Looking back over at the twins, he saw how they were visibly sagging under the weight of grief, and was painfully reminded of himself when he was a young boy. But no. This wasn't the time or place. Best to get this over with as soon as possible, really.
"Have you found anything?" Na looked up to see Xun walk over, and shook her head miserably.
"The fire totally destroyed all our belongings. And there's no sign of Mother anywhere..." Her bottom lip wobbled treacherously.
"I couldn't find anything either. Anyway, the bandits probably took anything of value." Sying said, quietly, from behind Na.
" ... I know this is hard for you, but is there a particular place your mother favoured?" Xun said quietly. Na sniffed, but walked over to a gnarled old tree about 10 metres from where the house once stood. Sying walked up behind her and gave her a hug. Xun shifted uncomfortably. He felt like he was intruding on a family moment. He stood and watched while Na and Sying separated, both picking up a handful of pebbles, and arranging them into a memorial. Finally, Na slipped off a tarnished bracelet, and laid it on the rock pile.
Without a word, Na and Sying both turned around, and remounted their horses. Xun followed their lead, climbing on his horse, and leading the way back to the castle.
Zhou Yu woke with a start. Beside him, Xiao Qiao murmured something in her sleep, and snuggled into his chest. Yu blinked. What had made him wake up while it was still dark? He eased himself out from under his wife, and walked to the window overlooking the market place in town. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was subtly... wrong.
A movement outside caught his eye. He watched as a figure staggered from behind a building, clutched at its chest, and dropped down onto one knee. Yu froze - he knew that figure anywhere. But what was he doing out at this time?
Yu cursed under his breath. He told Ce to not go after Yu Ji, but what had the idiot evidently done?
Turning from the window, he pulled on a shirt - he had slept in his trousers - grabbed his sword, just in case, and swept silently out of the room.
Pain coursed through Ce's body as he pulled himself up and staggered towards the bulk of the palace before him. For a second, as he collapsed, he thought he had seen a shape in one of the windows.
You should have listened to Zhou Yu, whispered a voice in the chaos of his mind. He told you to leave Ji alone...
He gasped as another arrow of pain shot through his chest. As his knees buckled underneath him, he noticed someone coming towards him, and just before he hit the ground, they caught him. Through the haze of pain, he heard a voice.
"Ce?" He tried to lift his head, but he was suddenly so very sleepy...
A/N: Before you start flaming me, I actually like Ce, but the plot line was unavoidable. Also, I apologise for dumbing him down a lot. Some more revealed about Xun's past, there. PLEASE REVIEW! I won't post the next chappie until I get at least 1 review. So please review, 'cause I like this story!