I'm not sure if people get my responses to their reviews so I'm gonna start replying on the following chapter. Sorry if I missed your review, just pm. Me and tell me that I didn't reply and I'll add it in.
Neji and Tenten 4eva – thats your least favourite pairing? Luckily nobody has voted for that pairing so I have no problems with cutting that out as a possibility unless a lot of people vote otherwise
shadow sylph – thanks for your comment on the backseat writers. I tried telling that to one of them and he locked me in a closet though... and I was thinking that maybe Ning and Shang Xiang could be friends but no farther than that if it really bugs you. They do seem like they would be good friends though. Pulling pranks on others along with Ci and Tong. -
LelinChan – lol, very picky about pairings you don't like. I'll be careful not to put them in then, unless people outvote you about wanting to see the pairing. But your Xing Cai x Guan Ping pairing hate is pretty understandable. Really random.
This chapter was assisted in writing by one of the infamous 'co-writers' (they threw me in a closet and I had to consend to call them that to be allowed out. JERKS!! O) Anyway, enjoy.
(in the closet)
The gag cut painfully into the sides of Xun's mouth. Bruises were hidden under his his concealing clothes but that did not make the pain lessen at all. His eye was swelling slightly and he could feel blood trickling down his face from both his mouth and a small cut he could barely see below his bad eye. He silently thanked the gag actually, he couldn't have spoken even when the pain was at the worst.
He tried to roll-over, shifting his position so his back would stop aching. He groaned at the pain shooting through every part of him. What kind of school was this?! How was this not against every rule they have in place for student safety?! Did anyone notice he was missing?
Would they ever notice?
The door opened in Jiang Wei stepped in. Xun tried to sit up, he didn't want to look weak. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
"Relax, relax. I'm not gonna hurt you." Wei assured
Wei knelt by Xun, placing a water bottle beside him as well as a clean set of clothing. He carefully untied the gag and helped Xun sit up.
"I'll untie your hands if you stay right there." Wei bargained
"I-I promise n-n-not to move" Xun mumbled through his parched mouth
Wei untied the rope around his hands and Xun rubbed his wrists gently. He felt his numb jaw as well and wiped off the blood with his own handkerchief. He ran a hand through his hatless hair and jumped slightly as Wei held out the water bottle to him. He took it, thanking Wei quickly before downing half of the bottle.
"I'm sorry Yan did this. That jerk didn't even wait to see if you would speak did he? He just enjoys others pain." Wei said angrily
"H-he's your classmate though. Sh-shouldn't you be defending him from things I m-might say?" Xun said, voice still raspy
"Pfft. Hes hardly my classmate. Anyway, I brought other clothes for you. Liang will call for you soon so you might as well look half decent." Wei said
"I'm s-sorry but I cannot accept your offer. I'll go b-before L-Liang in Wu's colours." Xun tried to sound confident
Wei smiled slightly.
"Fine with me. I have to retie your hands when I leave though."
"I understand."
Xun stretched his arms one final time before holding them out to be retied. Wei did so. It was tight enough to prevent Xun from escaping but he didn't loose all the circulation from his fingers.
"You don't need the gag anymore. That was just when to keep you quiet when you were actually being nabbed." Wei said
"Thank you." Xun said sincerely
Wei nodded. Getting up to leave and taking the bottle + clothes with him.
"When this is all over, maybe we could talk again in better conditions." Wei said
"Sounds like fun." Xun replied
Wei left, leaving Xun in the darkness again. It didn't seem quite as oppressing as last time but Xun's mind was running at full speed. If he was going to be interrogated by Liang, he needed some convincing lies and fast.
(Time passes, and Xun is brought out of the closet, then thrown back in only one hour later.)
It had been easy enough to feign complete and total fear. He added a few more stutters than usual and almost had to let flow tears of half-faking, half-real pain. At one point he had actually gotten a glimpse of Shu's map. Only a few notes remained imprinted in his mind but overall, Xun was feeling pretty good about his performance. Now physically, Xun was in worse condition than before. Yan had lifted the boy clear off his feet by his collar and the shirt tore. Luckily, that had been the throw that landed him in the closet so nobody saw the many bruises littering his chest and his bony ribs. He'd get some muscle eventually! Just you watch!
Xun looked up to see his goal above him. A vent. He was small enough to climb through so all he needed to do was get rid of his bindings and-
The door opened and Wei stepped in again.
"I can't stay long. Heres two shirts, put the long sleeve on underneath. It's cold outside and chances are, you'll be brought out." Wei said quickly
Hastily untying the rope, Wei thrust the clothes into his hands. Xun face turned red in embarrassment. He had to change shirts INFRONT of someone?!
"Hurry up!" Wei said
Xun did as told, pulling off his tattered shirt and pulling on the long black shirt and-
A green T-shirt with some sort of intricate silver and brown symbol thingy on the upper left part of the shirt that snaked its way partway down the sleeve.
"Sorry about the colour, but I don't even have any red shirts anymore." Wei grinned
"Thats fine." Xun mumbled
Wei retied Xun's hands securely and left again. Xun heard the lock click and waited a few minutes before trying to pull his foot out of his shoe. Once the shoe came off, a pocketknife fell out as well. Xun awkwardly turned to grab the pocketknife in his left hand and started the painstakingly slow process of sawing off the ropes. Pulling the blade out of the handle proved to be difficult.
Xun finally cut through the rope enough to pull his hands free. He hastily pulled on his shoe and flicked the blade back into the handle. He pulled out the screwdriver and stood on an overturned bucket to reach the vent (okay, a bucket and a small box . -Xun). He unscrewed the screws and pushed the pocketknife back into his shoe for safe keeping. Thank god for Swiss Army Knives.
Xun jumped up, pulling himself into the vent with after hanging there for a moment. He crawled slowly down the vent, feeling in front of him for sudden drops or rises. He crawled along till he felt a slow incline start. If he followed this he might get up to the Wu hallway where he could climb out and back to Wu. He smelled fresh air. Wait, fresh air?
Xun unscrewed the screen and crawled out onto the roof of the school. Well, its better than being back in the closet, and nobody would expect him to climb up there. He had never been up there before. He jumped down a slight decline to another flat platform with other vent systems. His knees buckled and he fell forward, off the platform and down the sloped rafters. He caught a smoke chimney with one arm and felt a painful crack in his shoulder. A pained gasp escaped but nothing else.
He swung slightly to the side to slide down to a balcony with handrails and hopefully, a door.
Once down, Xun rolled his shoulder tenderly and another slight pop sounded.
"Owie... TT-TT" Xun whimpered
Letting his arm lay limp, movement out of the corner of his eye caught Xun's attention. He looked over the side of the roof to see a battle going on below. Red and Green clashed and sparks flashed from the connecting weapons. He could see a small group of green people sneaking up on the side. Wu was prepared for an attack from behind but not for that!
Xun jumped over the balcony, half running, half sliding down the slanted roof. He dropped down a few feet and slide on his back down till his feet caught on the drain pipes. He ran along the roof top till he reached the side of the battle where the sneak attack was coming. One was raising his sword to attack Ce from behind!
"Upperclassman Ce! Turn around!" Xun yelled
Ce did as ordered without a second thought, catching his opponent in a deadlock. Xun jumped from the second floor roof to a tree, then took a flying leap to land between Xiao's unprotected back and an enemy. He took the momentary surprise of his enemy to his advantage and dealt a quick blow to his stomach to stun him.
Xiao turned, not recognizing Xun, and attacked him with surprising force. Xun wasn't expecting an attack and was blown a fair distance away. He pushed himself up with his good arm and scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Instinctively, he wanted to run from the green. He was wearing green as well so they thought he was on their side! He saw Meng in the distance and ran toward him.
"Uppercla-!"
Meng swirled his halberd around in one swift attack, forcing an opening around himself. Too late did he see Xun's face flicker from relief, to fear. Xun was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree and falling lifelessly to the ground. Meng fought his way to Xun and knelt beside him.
"Xun? Are you alright?" Meng had to shout over the roar of battle around them
"Y-yes'ir" Xun mumbled
Meng blocked an attack, fighting off the Shu student while still trying to keep his eye on Xun.
"Wheres Yu?! We need to pull out!" Meng growled
Xun rose on unsteady knees.
"I-I'll find him." Xun said
He disappeared into the crowd before any argument could be started. He ducked under wild swings and dodged around deadlocks as he weaved through the crowd looking for Upperclassman Yu. Several times his own classmates took a swing at him and he would run away quickly. His own team was attacking him, it was like a nightmare.
Xun found Yu fighting alongside Ce, standing back to back. He didn't go into striking distance for safety's sake but yelled to them from just out of reach.
"Upperclassman Yu! Upperclassman Meng said we need to pull out!" Xun yelled
"Xun?!" Ce asked, looking him up and down "Didn't think we'd see you here."
"Never mind that. Xun you drop back immediately, you have no weapons. Ce, we're retreating." Yu said authoritatively
"DROP BACK WU!!" Ce yelled
Ce was very much like a loudspeaker. Just louder and he had more of an ego.
Xun dropped back to the tree line, and watched as the rest of Wu also ran towards him. He waited till all of Wu was past him to light his lighter and set the defensive trap alight again. This one was set just for this purpose, to keep invaders out during a retreat. He turned to run back to camp when something hard connected to his small chest. He was flung back to roll like a rag-doll in the dirt. It was then that Xun lost consciousness.
(End, chapter 6)
Coming Soon to a computer near you! Chapter 7! I could give you a cheesy teaser for the next chapter but I'm too lazy. I can't think of anything to vote on really...how about your all time favourite character? I might be able to fit them in somewhere if you just tell me who it is. ; )