Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (EXCEPT Lu Kyoko and Jia Li)
Chapter 13: Poor Gan Ning
Ling Tong couldn't believe what he'd just heard, Jia Li was cheating on Gan Ning
"I think she's cheating on him with Xiahou Dun, you know because her father's a Wei general"
"Who's her father?" Ling Tong asked
"You know him; well you've duelled with him, Jia Kui"
"Does Ning know that?"
Lu Kyoko nodded, and she sat down on a bench in the corridor, then they heard footsteps, well it sounded more like a march heading down the corridor, Lu Kyoko looked behind Ling Tong and her eyes widened "Uh-oh"
Ling Tong turned around and saw Gan Ning walking, quite angrily down the corridor; he stopped in front of Lu Kyoko "You knew that Jia Li was cheating on me?"
She stood up "Gan Ning, listen--" But Gan Ning cut across her "So you did know?"
"Yes" She admitted "I would have told you... How did you find out?"
Gan Ning seemed to relax "Yeah I know" Gan Ning sat down in her place "Well when I spoke to Ling Tong just before he said that something had been 'off' with Jia Li while we away"
"Was it Xiahou Dun?" Ling Tong said before he could stop himself, Gan Ning stood up, "Did you know as well?!"
Ling Tong instinctively took a few steps back "I only just found out!"
Gan Ning sighed and nodded, sitting down again 'Poor Gan Ning' Lu Kyoko thought, and then they heard running footsteps come down the corridor, Ling Tong and Lu Kyoko turned around and saw Jia Li running down the corridor, she stopped beside Lu Kyoko, holding her side. "Did you tell him?!" She asked.
"I didn't tell him"
"Why don't I believe you?"
"I'm not lying!"
Jia Li actually went to hit Lu Kyoko, but she had time to sigh, a tired Jia Li was no match for her even if she was armed, Lu Kyoko simply blocked it and twisted her arm behind her back, Jia Li gasped in pain "Listen Jia Li" Lu Kyoko snarled "I'm faster and stronger than you, whether you'll admit it or not, do you really want to do it the hard way?" She shook her head and Lu Kyoko let go, but Jia Li retaliated by kicking her in the jaw, now Ling Tong was angry, he grabbed hold of her and threw her down onto the floor "She didn't hint him of what you were doing! I did, and I didn't even knowing you were sleeping with a Wei general!"
"Could you have said that any louder?" Jia Li asked sarcastically
"Yeah, much"
But Gan Ning stood up, and stood in between them "Jia Li, get the hell out of my life" Gan Ning said quietly and walked off "Gan Ning!" Lu Kyoko shouted after him, but for nothing, he waved his hands behind him to show he had heard her, Ling Tong ran after him, he knew that Lu Kyoko could handle herself "Why are you still in Wu?"
"Well... I..."
"There's nothing for you here... you don't even fight, so save the secrecy and go run to your daddy"
"Why don't you?" Then she pretended to have forgotten "Where is he? Oh yeah he's dead isn't he... what about your brother? Oh no sorry news needed to sink in"
Lu Kyoko was furious 'She can disrespect me, I can take that... But nobody disrespects the name of my family like that!'
Jia Li started laughing at her own sick joke and Lu Kyoko just hit her, Jia Li looked furious and went to hit back.
"Hey, Ning! At least wait" Ling Tong said as he finally caught up to Gan Ning, and Gan Ning stopped "Don't worry, now she's got nothin' in Wu, even if we didn't banish her she'll leave and go to Wei"
"Ling Tong, put yourself in my shoes, say Lu Kyoko had been sneaking off with a warrior from a different kingdom... well not that she would, but you get the idea, would you want her to leave?"
Ling Tong didn't know how to answer that "I can't say it's something I've ever thought about, do you want her to go?"
Gan Ning suddenly smiled "Of course I do! I can't get hung up on this, it'll just bug me... and then I'll go beat the hell out of Xiahou Dun"
"So it was him?"
Gan Ning nodded... Then he looked behind Ling Tong and fought laughing, Ling Tong turned around and saw a very angry Jia Li stomping down the corridor, she had bruises on her already forming, a bleeding lip and her hair was messed up, she stopped in front of Ling Tong "Your girlfriend... Is crazy" She spat and went in front of Gan Ning, who was glaring at her, but it looked silly with the laughing smile "I thought we had something" She said and went to wrap her arms around him, he took a step back, pushing her hands away "Yeah, I thought so too... But apparently I wasn't enough"
"Ning I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"
Lu Kyoko had watched a beaten Jia Li storm off, she smiled to herself and placed a hand on her cheek, it was hot and painful to touch, but the fight they had just had had been worth it... She looked out of the window and up at the sky outside, signs of the sun starting to set was becoming visible, and Lu Kyoko could see a single star already. 'Are you watching me even now brother?' Then she saw someone in the garden which made her eyes widen and breath stop, she couldn't believe herself how much she hated him now, the two had been friends for a brief spell, she just hoped she was seeing things, she ran off deciding to go find Ling Tong and Gan Ning.
Gan Ning looked at the sad face Jia Li was putting on, his heart tensed instead of softening 'It doesn't work on me anymore' Gan Ning thought happily "No, I can't"
She became angry again and slapped Gan Ning, then stormed off to the dorms. Ling Tong started laughing and Gan Ning joined in, but he couldn't deny his face stung. They saw Lu Kyoko running around the corner "I just saw a Shu general in the garden!"
"What?"
"Uh... Friendly looking or hostile?" Gan Ning asked, but he feared he knew the answer
"Let me think... Oh yes hostile!"
"We'd better wake Sun Quan up" Ling Tong said
"I'll go get Lu Xun" Lu Kyoko said and sprinted to the warrior's dorms, Gan Ning ran off to unlock the library and Ling Tong ran to the leaders dorms.
Lu Kyoko knocked on Lu Xun's dorm, he answered it looking tired and rubbing his eyes "What's going on?" But Lu Kyoko urged him to get dressed "I've just seen some Shu soldiers" Lu Xun didn't need that information twice, Lu Kyoko knew he was young and tired and barely had time to adjust to his new strategist quarters "Library in five minutes, you, me Lord Sun Quan, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Ling Tong and even Xiao Qiao" Lu Kyoko nodded at all the names, but tilted her head curiously when he said Xiao Qiao "Why Xiao?" Lu Xun closed his door and said through it "Because she's coming back to be a warrior" Lu Kyoko nodded and ran deep inside the warrior's dorms to find Zhou Tai's room, she found it eventually and knew he hated to be disturbed but this was an emergency "What is it?" He said grumpily as he opened the door "Shu's on our lands, meeting, library in five minutes" All the sleep in Zhou Tai's eyes left immediately and he nodded; now she only had to get Xiao Qiao.
Ling Tong knocked on Sun Quan's door, eventually he heard someone walk towards it and Sun Quan opened the door "What?" Sun Quan was rather grumpy due to lack of sleep. "Shu are on our lands... and in a hostile way, I think they're mad due to Guan Yu's death" Sun Quan was tired but he opened his eyes wide "Library in five minutes" Sun Quan said, and Ling Tong started to make his way there but Lu Kyoko almost crashed into him at the bottom of the hall "Did you find Lu Xun? Was he in his room?" Lu Kyoko rolled her eyes "No he was at a tavern in town, of course he was! But I've still got one warrior left to get" Ling Tong nodded, kissed her cheek and carried on towards the library, all thoughts of mourning tonight had gone, now Shu had made themselves a threat.
Lu Kyoko knocked gently on Xiao Qiao's door; she answered it, rubbing her eyes and yawning "What is it?" Lu Kyoko smiled "Want to be a warrior again?" Xiao smiled and clapped her hands together "Library in five minutes" Xiao smiled, closed the door and Lu Kyoko walked towards the library.
When she arrived there she saw that almost everyone was there, even Sun Quan, Lu Kyoko walked in and sat down, feeling quite strange to be taking her brother's place. "There's only Xiao Qiao left my lord" Sun Quan looked at him surprised "Why Xiao Qiao?" Lu Kyoko smiled slightly she had already asked him that "Because she has frequently expressed wishes to return to the battlefield and also Lu Meng ordered promotions for Lu Kyoko and Gan Ning, Lu Kyoko as Field General, Gan Ning a step above that as sub-commander, currently same as Ling Tong" Seeing his surprised face he added "In his will he asked Ling Tong to be promoted as well, and Xiao Qiao was the obvious choice for the free lieutenant spot.
Xiao Qiao arrived, she still looked glamorous even though she was back wearing her armour (by armour I mean DW5 clothing), she took Lu Kyoko's old place, right beside Field General, it was normally their job to instruct them.
"Okay, now everyone is present, I'm sure we all know that Shu had sighted on our land, possibly in revenge for Guan Yu..."
"If this is true then Liu Bei has lost all sense of virtue, but we must defeat him before Cao Cao can take any glory"
"Where to... And who's going?" Gan Ning asked Lu Xun, with a slight smile
"Yi Ling, we will wait for the enemy there, and we need a large strong force"
"I will go on this expedition if the strategist wishes" Sun Quan said
"Zhu Ran and I can eradicate Liu Bei's forces by setting the east bank on fire, I will need Gan Ning, Lu Kyoko and Xiao Qiao to keep the enemies attention and keep Zhu Ran safe, Ling Tong and Zhou Tai in defence with myself, Pan Zhang, Dong Xi and others will attack the enemy at various points, my lord we can use you, with you on the battlefield they shall not be watching Zhu Ran. We shall leave for Yi Ling at midday tomorrow"
'The meetings are always short' Ling Tong thought as he stood up and bowed to his lord and strategist. Then everyone went back to their chambers, Lu Kyoko stopped when they walked in front of his, "I wasn't going to give it to you yet, but it looks like we're at war for your birthday so I'll give my present to you now" Ling Tong looked surprised 'She got me something' She told him to wait inside and he sat down on his bed, and lit a single candle which was his only light now the sun had set. Lu Kyoko came back in a few moments with two boxes "I remembered you telling me something so had these made"
Ling Tong opened the smaller, flatter one and inside was new armour, he smiled and moved onto the bigger one, he pulled out a spear, he could tell it had been made especially because even he could tell that it was not a whole weight, it felt like in between two, and it had a piece of cloth and feather hanging from it, the cloth had him family name imprinted on it (his DW6 outfit and weapon). He couldn't believe she'd done this, he thanked and kissed her, but he didn't dare touch her, not tonight. Instead she just slept peacefully lying in his arms 'I can get used to this' Ling Tong thought and followed her into sleep.
AN: Okay so onto Yi Ling! I know this chapter seemed all over the place writing it, but at least I know what to do and Gan Ning has dumped Jia Li. Please R&R