S E A S O N IV

Chapter XXVI

Once Upon A Time

Aka's dead! Joyous day that I can drink to my best friend's death by the hands of my own sword! Delusional? Yes, very. De and Aka, they're dead. Aka, the man I trusted most, betrayed me and I killed him. And De, the man I trusted least among myself, reached the undying loyalty of putting his own life on the line for my wife…who I was too weak to protect on my own. TWICE since his return, he's reached her before I could. Unbearable…the 'Great Blue Fox', the coward who can't even protect his own damn wife! Cowardly? Or growing weak? I strike down any enemy, but I'm as weak as the peasants forced into war againts their will, who either draft or be beaten by soldiers. Ruthless kingdoms…

Aoi left his cabin and walked out to the camp. It had been a week since Aka and De's deaths, but it felt like yesterday. Kori continuously tried to support Aoi and make him feel better. Nothing worked, but that would not stop her. She ran to Aoi's side and tried again.

"Aoi…I'm just as upset as you are, but we're okay." Said Kori.

Aoi stopped and turned angrily at her.

"You are? Did you see Aka's face as he stepped beside Lu Xun? Did you see him betray you, as archers nearly shot you down? WAS IT YOUR DAMNED BLADE THAT TORE OPEN HIS FLESH?"

Kori's breath stopped, her eyes fixed on Aoi's face.

"No…no I didn't…but that doesn't mean we can't be the same as before." Said Kori.

"Yes, it does. There will NEVER be another day where we will all fight together…not ONE day that you, me, Shiro, and Aka will fight alongside eachother. Aka was my best friend. He would stand by me againts impossible odds, fight any battle with me. " Said Aoi.

"Well so would we, Aoi!" said Kori, hurtfully angry. "Have you forgot about Shiro? Do you remember me? Or when we still loved eachother?"

"Kori, please don't make this about us."

"Then who is this about?"

Aoi did not respond, but stared at Kori with the slightest glare.

"Who? Is it about you? It's always about you! "The Great Blue Fox" and his pathetic sidekicks!" said Kori. "I'm done with this. I'm leaving, I can't be with the new you anymore…"

Kori stormed off and was too angry to cry. Aoi sighed and ran after her.

"Kori, stop!"

"Why should I? I wouldn't want to get in the way!" said Kori, sarcastically. She turned to Aoi and glared him in the eye. "Just leave me alone, Aoi. I don't want to be a part of this anymore…"

Aoi stopped and blinked, then watched her as she left angrily. He could leave her, or go after her. He sighed, he blew it big time. He looked back at her and ran after her. Aoi grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"Kori, I'm not leaving you." Said Aoi.

"You don't have to, I'm leaving you." Said Kori.

"I need you right now, okay? I just killed my best friend…and I really don't need this right now." said Aoi.

"Because it's always about you!" said Kori. "And where were you when I was captured by bandits? Where were you when I was almost shot down back at Yi Ling? Where were you when I needed you most, Aoi? Where were you?"

"I'm not perfect…" said Aoi.

"Well you should have thought of that before…"

"Where were you?" asked Aoi, intimidated. "Where were you when I needed you? When I lived in a broken down house where the children threw rocks at me? When life was a living hell breathing from my eyes?!"

"That was a long time ago, Aoi."

"And this is now…you weren't there for me and I wasn't there for you, but I need that to change…I don't want to lose you again…I know I've screwed up a lot. I've brought you to this war, I passed off our own son. But to tell the truth…I don't regret any of it…I love you, Kori…I always will."

Kori looked at Aoi in the eye, then sighed in shallow breaths, as small tears formed in her tear ducts.

"I don't know what to do right now…just leave me alone." Said Kori.

Kori left to her cabin, Aoi sighed in grief, and stood in both patience and dread. He let out one more sigh and turned around as a messenger ran and kneeled before him.

"Lord Blue Fox, Master Zhuge Liang wishes to see you in his private quarters." Said the soldier.

Thirty minutes later, Aoi was sitting in Zhuge Liang's room. Zhuge Liang was very nervous and paced back and forth in front of Aoi.

"Our Lord has fallen, and I know his heir is no good for leadership." Said Zhuge Liang, nervously. "I cannot lead such an army…but you can."

Aoi blinked.

"You're…you're asking me to lead Shu?" asked Aoi.

"No, I beg you to. Shu will crumble if not under a man of leadership."

Aoi stood and stopped Zhuge Liang's pacing, putting his hand on Liang's shoulder.

"Liu Bei may have been the head of the army, but you were the mind." Said Aoi. "You controlled nearly every movement of Liu Bei."

"No, I can't handle that. I would have to lead both politics and military movements, I cannot do it."

"Then we have no choice but to place Liu Bei's heir in command." Said Aoi. "But I still leave you with the option of siezing control of Shu."

Aoi left the cabin, and went to his own. He sat down in the corner and let out a frustrated sigh. He looked at the face of his right fist and read his self-written scar. It said God of War. He looked to his left fist and it read, Black Dragon. Shiro walked in and sat next to Aoi.

"Aoi…you did what you had to do." Said Shiro. "If he killed you…what do you think would have happened to us? We would have killed him in your name, and it would have been no different."

"It would be different…I would not have to live with shame." Said Aoi.

"No, Aka betrayed you, I would have killed him, too, if he did it to me." Said Shiro. "You have to move on, Aoi…we all do."

"And what about De?" said Aoi. "I trusted him so few times after all he's done to prove that he was the most loyal of all…he saved Kori twice when I couldn't…and I thought he'd betray me. And Aka, I trusted him the most and yet he almost killed me."

"Aka would have stayed with you to the end if not for Lu Xun." Said Shiro. Aoi stopped for a minute, and gave a glare.

"Stop trying to justify what he did…he's a liar and a traitor…and that's it." Said Aoi. Shiro and Aoi left their cabins and headed for the front of the castle.

Suddenly in the background a soldier shouted.

"OPEN THE GATES!" he said.

The doors opened slowly and soldiers ran in. They had blood stains in their torn shirts, which revealed bandaging over their chests. One ran forward and almost fell.

"What happened?!" said Shiro.

"We were attacked by southern barbarians, it was beaten down badly!" replied the soldier.

It was fifteen minutes later when the news reached Zhuge Liang.

"The south was attacked by the Nanman tribes." Said Zhuge Liang. Aoi looked at him. "They are a powerful adversary, and our brute force would not be too little to defeat them…but…"

"But?" asked Aoi.

"I have an idea. Instead of fighting head-on, perhaps we should attack their will to fight until they will join us willingly."

"You…you actually think a bunch of barbarians will just…join us?" asked Aoi.

"The mind of the average barbarian is compiled only of mere swordplay tactics. An easy opponent, apparently. If we trap them and counter each of their moves, eventually their cause for battle will cease to exist. I plan on doing so, and I ask you to gather worthy generals."

"Why don't you ask me to go?"

"I know you've suffered severe loss, I cannot have distraught generals leading strategy."

Aoi tore the knife from his leg sheathe out and slammed it into the table in front of him, and it stabbed through a dung beetle.

"Looks fine to me, I'm going." Said Aoi.

"You will not." Said Zhuge Liang.

"Yeah…I think I will." Said Aoi.

Two soldiers approached Aoi and lightly unsheathed their blades, but Zhuge Liang rose his right hand and they backed away.

"Very well. However we are at loss of generals. Lords Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong are dead. That's four of the Tiger Generals. I need to restore the ranks…I ask you to lead the Tiger Generals." Said Zhuge Liang.

"Hah, you're joking, right?" said Aoi.

"No, I'm not. But you've achieved great things since you've entered this war."

"Like?"

"Lu Bu, Xiahou Dun? Zhang Liao, Cao Cao? Lu Meng, Zhou Yu? And I know the ferocity of the Kuan family, and yet you accomplished to take down their last descendants along with their equally dangerous kin."

"Not all of them, and besides not all of those were killed by me."

"But you caused it. You're men beat Zhang Liao and Cao Cao did they not?"

"But why should I lead? Why not Zhao Yun?"

"Because I've made him Grand General of Shu."

"Who else will be Tiger General?"

"Shiro Inazuma, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, and Kori Kaze. All of them have done good for this kingdom, and are skilled enough to serve as a Tiger General. Tell me, why do you reject wealth and fame?"

"Why do we accept it?" asked Aoi.

"Very good of a question, but it's obvious that you've wont he argument, however you are still to lead the Tiger Generals.

Suddenly an arrow shot through the window and into the ground, and Aoi. On the body of the arrow was wrapped a crimson flag. Aoi grabbed his knife and weapons, then rose up and turned to leave.

"So, you're answer?" asked Zhuge Liang.

"I'll fight the Nanman, so I suggest you get ready for it."

Aoi left the building. Leaning on the wall stood Wei Yan, eyes narrowed that he had still not been named a Tiger General. Aoi walked outside of the gates, and turned to his left to see Kuan Mao.

"Are you stalking me?" said Aoi.

"Something like that." Said Kuan Mao. "You should enjoy the time you get to spend with me, they'll be the last minutes you'll have."

"Honestly, where have I heard that before?" said Aoi.

Aoi blinked and crouched quickly as an arrow flew past his head, Kuan Mao made the first move. Aoi pulled his knife from his leg sheathe quickly and threw it at Mao, who used his longbow to uppercut it and hit it away. As he spun and brought the bow down he had pulled an arrow out and pulled it on the string, then fired at Aoi. Aoi was running and lunged to the other direction and dodged the arrow. He grabbed his bow and fired an arrow quickly. Mao crouched leftward and fired a fast arrow at Aoi. Aoi rolled to the right and threw an arrow at Mao. Mao smacked it away but an arrow cut his waist. Mao ignored the blow and pulled another arrow from his large quiver and shot at Aoi. Aoi thrusted himself backward and landed on his left hand. As he rose back up he saw Kuan Mao running at him, twin blades drawn. Aoi rose nearly unbalanced, and as Mao slashed at Aoi, Aoi hit the blades away from him using his bow. Mao slid around in a full circle and turned to Aoi.

"Nice bow…" said Mao.

Aoi pulled an arrow from his quiver and pulled it back across the tight string of the bow. Mao stopped for a second, but then ran forward to Aoi's right. Aoi rolled to the left and fired at Mao's legs. It scraped some skin off of Mao's foreleg, but not much. Mao quickly turned and sprinted directly towards Aoi and did a double-slash down at Aoi, who was crouching down. Aoi used his bow again and hit the blades to the left. Then back rolled and threw his bow backward. He unsheathed his own sword and charged Mao. He slashed at Mao, who blocked and Aoi passed. Aoi overhead-thrust his blade behind his back and blocked a slash, then spun slightly and slashed to his down-left and hit blocked another blow. He spun around in a half-circle and faced Mao, who ran at Aoi. Mao lunged forward and stabbed at Aoi's neck with his right blade. Aoi ducked and uppercut his blade, but Mao thrust his left blade down and stopped the attack, then landed, rolling to his feet. Aoi quickly ran and slashed down at Mao, targetting the skull. Mao blocked with his left blade and swiped at Aoi's stomach with his left. Aoi backed away and pulled his sword away, then Mao sprinted towards Aoi. As Mao hacked at Aoi with his right blade, Aoi ducked low and stabbed at Mao's side. Mao managed to block the blow, and he turned back to Aoi.

"Don't die, Kitsune…I want to be the one to see you squirm for mercy." Said Mao. "I want to see your flesh burn and ignite from blood drawn from my own swords…and I want Ice Wind to be there to see it happen."

Mao turned towards his horse, but Aoi wasn't going to let it go that easily. He furiously ran at Mao and his sword ignited with a weak glow of dark matter. Mao turned and Aoi slashed at Mao's left with both hands. Mao slid back and Aoi slashed from the other side. Mao used both blades to block and they cracked. Mao kicked Aoi in the chest hard, pushing him back a few steps, and sheathed his blades. He ran over and picked up his longbow, then headed for his horse. Aoi sprinted to catch him, but he turned and fired an arrow. Aoi leaned leftward and dodged, then continued. Mao leaped onto his horse, and snapped the reigns. The horse charged away from Aoi, who sighed and sheathed his weapon. He walked over and grabbed his bow, and ran back into the gate.

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An hour later, Aoi was in his room. He had set up a sandbag that stood on a wooden pole, and wrapped his fist. He punched and kicked it hard over and over, soon the internal wood cracked. He socked it in the stomach with his right and came across what'd be the head with his left. He jumped up and spun-kick the top, and soon the wood snapped off. He turned and grabbed his bow, and attatched his quiver. Repeatedly he shouted and fired arrows rapidly into the bag, he pictured Aka at the moment they started fighting.. He stopped and dropped the bow. He slowly turned his head to see Kori standing in the doorway. They merely stood and stared into eachother's eyes.

Aoi's eyes were dead, his expression was broken. Kori's were concerned and her face expressed pain. Aoi detatched his quiver, and they stared at eachother for ten minutes. Kori then started walking slowly to Aoi, who stood with his same, dead, expression. After the first few steps, Kori walked quickly and fell into Aoi's arms. Tears had finally come out. Aoi opened his mouth but his throat restricted his words. There was nothing he could say.

"I know now…" said Kori, Aoi's eyes lifted. "I know that no matter how hard I try…no matter what I do…I'll never stop loving you. I can't be away from you anymore…I want to be with you always."

Aoi still couldn't say anything. Words couldn't describe what was going on…he could only listen, and Kori held tighter.

"I don't want to be apart anymore…I'm miserable without you. It's as if when I'm alone…that I feel like you're with me, even when you aren't. And I can't stand it anymore…"

Aoi's eyes wandered on the ground…she was pouring her heart out to him but he couldn't say anything.

"It feels like a blade runs through my heart whenever you go to battle without me." Said Kori. "I never can know if you'll really come back…and it kills me inside."

"There will be days…where I can only see your face and wonder if I'll ever see it again." Said Aoi. "There will be days where I want to embrace you and never let go, because it may be the last thing I'd do. But there will infinitely be that moment, where I will always be with you…physically or an illusion…you'll be right there with me…"

They loosened up, still holding eachother, and looked into eachother's eyes. Kori's eyes dropped tears, but the look in her eye was not in pain. They moved into eachother and kissed passionately for a few seconds, and broke apart, staring into eachother's eyes.

"You're leaving again…aren't you?" asked Kori, Aoi nodded in response. "I'm going this time."

Kori waited for Aoi to reject this, but he simply waited. After a minute, he agreed. Kori smiled and hugged tightly.

Few weeks later, Zhuge Liang's forces were ready for battle. It consisted of Aoi, Kori, Shiro, himself, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, Zhao Yun, and Wei Yan, along with their armies. They had finally arrived in the southern provinces.

Meanwhile, in the Nanman camp, the army feasted. In the dining room, the King of Nanman ate his large meal at the head of the table.. He was an obese but muscular man, with a wild beard of five inches. He wore silk leggings and metal armor over his chest. His spears were set beside him. His name was Meng Huo. Two generals walked slowly to the lord.

"Zhuge Liang and his men are marching againts us, my lord." Said a general. The general wore no shirt, and was muscular. His hair reached the center of his spine and wore a blade to his waist. Nanman armor covered his legs. His name was Yong Kai.

"Who cares?!" said Meng Huo, eating a large slab of meat.

"He's a legendary man of Shu." Said another general. This general also had a strong upper body, and he wore Nanman armor on his chest and to his elbows, but his legs were unprotected. A wrapped-up spear was on his back, and his black , fuzzy hair reached his shoulders. This one was Gao Ding.

A woman, who sat next to Meng Huo, stood up. She was very attractive, and her black hair reached her ribs. She had attractive curves and wore a silk shirt that covered her medium sized chest down to her lower stomach, but it revealed her arms. She had light, brown eyes, and wore a skirt, and she wore lightly sheathed Chinese darts to her waist. She was Meng Huo's wife, Zhu Rong.

"We'll crush them, no matter who they send!" she shouted. "Tommorow, have your men ready at dawn."

She sat back down, and the generals bowed, then left.

It was few days later that Nanman had made their move. Yong Kai, Gao Ding, and another general, E Huan, led the attack. Aoi put on his armor and Kori did as well, back turned to her husband. They could only stare into eachother's radiant eyes.

He seems so dead inside… thought Kori. He's changed…

Aoi's eyes fell and he grabbed his blade and his bow and left the room. Kori did as well as Aoi led his army to the center of the battlefield along with Guan Xing's army. Aoi looked to his right to a commander.

"Tell the men to spread, and close in at my immediate command."

The commander nodded and ran to the men, the cavalry greatly spreaded out, while the soldiers followed half-way. Nanman general Gao Ding brought forward his men, as did Yong Kai and E Huan. Wei Yan's army rode forward and attacked head-on with E Huan's. Wei Yan held a new, luster spear. It's silver end glistened in the sun's dawn. He waved the blade to his left and struck a soldier down, then spun it back to the right and swung hard, cutting another.

E Huan was midly muscular with tan skin and his black hair was let out and reached his shoulder blade. He wore sleeveless heavy chest armor and light padding on his thighs. He carried a medium spear with a sharp edge.

The armies collided harshly, as soldier by soldier was cut down and covered in blood. A captain put up his pike and ran in violently. He ducked and cut through a Nanman soldier. He swung around and beheaded two. Then spun and swung at another's head, but missed. One tribe warrior thrusted his sword through the captain, and another cut straight down the shoulder blade with a spear. Two Shu soldiers ran in and killed the captain's assailants, then dragged him off.

"My brother's dead!" shouted one soldier in fury. He took up a sword and as did the other soldier, and ran into the battlefield but arrows fell into their skulls and died.

Aoi truly watched the battle. This was the first in a long time that he saw what was happening…families were divided in death, if not all slain. He saw the savage velocity of termination by these…tribesman. But he didn't want to stop the battle…he wanted to go and kill the soldiers himself. He wanted them to feel the pain of Shu's soldiers…but he knew that they probably also were.

E Huan slashed widely at Wei Yan, who manuevered his horse inward and cut down E Huan's. Huan fell to the ground and rolled roughly againts the mud. He stood and blocked a slash from Wei Yan's blade.

Aoi rode over to Shiro.

"Take your cavalry around to the right." Said Aoi. "I want the enemy on the left flank."

Shiro nodded and unwrapped his spear from it's sheets. He brought his cavalry over to the right as ordered. Shiro pulled his spear back and thrust it forward, impaling a soldier. He swung the man off and made a quick swipe, slitting a soldier's neck. He twirled his spear over his head and swung hard to his left, decimating a man. Gao Ding's forces came from behind Shiro's.

Aoi saw and ordered 20 archers to fire straight forward simutaneously. Zhao Yun's forces appeared behind Gao Ding and Guan Xing's in front. Guan Xing, dismounted, ran in and spun his blade in full circle. Three Nanman soldiers fell. Zhao Yun leaped forward from his horse and thrust his blade in forward. It impaled a soldier to the ground. While removing the spear he ducked as a soldier slashed at him, then Yun spun and cut him down.

Aoi rode over to Kori's army.

"Kori, take your soldiers and one quarter of mine to the forward-left flank, and wait for the enemy to approach, then take them out." Said Aoi.

"You're going to leave me, again?" asked Kori.

"I won't let anything happen to you…I promise." Said Aoi.

Kori sighed and rode off with the soldiers. Most of the infantry was left with Aoi.

"Alright, let's move out!" shouted Aoi. He led a direct assault into E Huan's men. Aoi rode quick and swift, leaving a light grip on his blade.

This one's for you, De, thought Aoi.

Aoi leaped from Shadow and onto the ground, then sprinted quickly though a barrage of soldiers, both Shu and Nanman. He jumped high and spun, beheading a soldier. He back kicked into an attacker's stomach and sprinted, running his blade through the soldier's stomach. He continued running and suddenly turned right in front of an enemy, then cut through his stomach swiftly. He spun forward and sliced through a shoulder blade. He stabbed to his left, blocking an attack, then hit the blade up. Aoi spun and backstabbed the soldier, then spun and cut him down. He turned right and blocked a spear with both hands gripped on the hilt of his sword. He pushed the spear up and lunged forward, stabbing the soldier.

Wei Yan turned his horse and charged E Huan once more. Wei Yan twirled his spear around and as he closed in, stabbed at Huan. Huan blocked once more but Wei Yan's horse moved too far to be hit.

"FIGHT LIKE A WARRIOR!" shouted E Huan.

Wei Yan charged his horse once more at E Huan, but launched himself off and he closed in on him. He thrusted his spear down at Huan, but Huan rolled to the left. Yan pulled his spear from the mud and blocked a slash to his left hip, then turned and swung in a full circle. Huan held his polearm to his left and blocked, then thrust it forward. Huan's blade cut through Wei Yan's right hip. He winced but cut across Huan's stomach. Blood trickled from each of the wounds, small at first but the blood stains grew.

Wei Yan stepped forward and did a strong overhead slash. E Huan blocked and spun his blade, cutting Wei Yan down the shoulder. The wound opened but it wasn't deep.

"Damn!" said Wei Yan.

Wei Yan narrowed his eyes and let out a roar as he did a powerful overhead slash. E Huan blocked but he was knocked off balance, and Wei Yan kicked him to the floor. Huan backrolled and lunged forward, slashing across Wei Yan's chest. It seemed as though it'd have been a deep wound but it hadn't pierced very much. Wei Yan mounted a horse and retreated towards his left flank.

"Coward!" shouted E Huan. He grabbed a horse and pursued.

E Huan closed in, and Wei Yan snapped his horse's reigns again. In seconds, an arrow hit E Huan's horse. It fell and E Huan rolled violently across the ground. He got up and lifted his spear. He looked around and was surrounded by Kori's soldiers. Huan glared and lifted his spear up to slash, when he heard Aoi's archers pull their strings back.

"Go ahead and strike them." Said Kori. "But you won't live long after."

She walked to Huan, but didn't get too close.

"Consider yourself a prisoner of the Shu kingdom."

"Wench! I would die before losing to you!" shouted the angered officer.

The soldiers readied to strike but Kori raised her hand and stopped them. She walked closer to Huan and narrowed her eyes, then pulled another arrow across her bowstring. A small icy mist circled the arrowhead.

"Lower your weapon." She said.

Huan looked around and breathed heavily.

"Last chance." Said Kori.

Huan gritted his teeth, but dropped his spear. Kori lowered her bow and signalled to take him away. Wei Yan balled his fist in anger. If it weren't for orders, he would have cut him down much earlier…he was being held back.

Shiro was back-to-back with Zhao Yun and Guan Xing. Storm had been pressed away.

"Take a head, any head. It's going to be a long day, guys." Said Shiro.

"Just don't get killed, and try to keep up, okay?" taunted Zhao Yun.

"Ready?" asked Shiro.

"Go." Said Guan Xing.

The three warriors charged the army. Guan Xing lunged forward and did a wide outward slash. As he slowed he waved the blade above his head, then turned and hacked down. A couple of Nanman fell dead on the floor.

Zhao Yun leaped high from the earth and came down with a hard slash tot he right. As he landed he swung hard to the left then spun around full-circle and killed his surrounders.

Shiro merely charged agilely. He dashed left and sliced through soldiers with a right hack. He spun rightward a few times, spear out, and cut right through soldiers. He stopped and turned, running very fast, blocking and occaisonally killing others. He stopped again and stood, readying himself.

Zhao Yun thrusted himself forward and his spear penetrated an enemy's chest, nearly whole-way through. He pulled it out and swung around in a half-circle, killing the people behind. Then turned left and dodged a man. He backstabbed and killed the soldier.

Guan Xing waited for his prey to come to him. One soldier ran forward and slashed at Xing's head. Xing blocked with the center of his pike and let the other blade slide down, then he swung the blade and cut the soldier. Three more were in front of him. He ducked and leg-sweeped two to the floor and thrusted his pike upward, impaling the third. He stood quickly and beheaded the soldiers.

Shiro did the same. As two approached he dashed to the right attacker and cut straight through his stomach, turned and blocked another attack. He hit the blade up and dashed passed the attacker, cutting as he crossed.

Zhao Yun flipped over his spear, so the blade pointed down. With both hands he ducked and slashed a left attacker, then stood and blocked another, pressing him off. One more came and attacked his right. He blocked and pulled the pole away, got behind the soldier and cut him, then quickly backstabbed the other soldier. He removed the blade and nimbly spun around and slashed through his shoulder blade. He blocked another spear and let it slide off of his own. As the soldier passed he spun around and cut through the waist-line.

Shiro ran forward and thrust his spear leftward, impaling someone through the chest, then he pulled out his bloody blade and slashed right. The soldier to his right blocked with a sword. The soldier pulled back and did an overhead slash at Shiro, who blocked. Shiro saw it was Aoi, and they stopped and turned back-to-back.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing." Said Aoi.

"You're one to talk." Said Shiro.

Aoi sheathed his blade and took up his bow. He pulled an arrow from his backpack of arrows and fired an arrow into the neck of a soldier, not 4 feet away from him. Another was close, he pulled an arrow and ducked, thrusting the arrow forward, stabbing the attacker in the heart. He pulled the arrow out and kicked the soldier down, then fired the arrow at another.

Guan Xing and Zhao Yun regrouped with Aoi and Shiro, and all went back-to-back, weapons ready. The soldiers waited and it was a short pause. Aoi's bow rose up and fired three arrows and they hit three bodies. The soldiers let out their roars and charged. Suddenly Zhang Bao's horse came thrashing down and crushed a few bodies. Zhang Bao's dual spears beheaded and severed head after head, spilling the blood of atleast 6 soldiers quickly, excluding his horse's kills.

Aoi stood firm and continued drawing arrows. He fired into a spearman and he fell backward, followed by another shot to the chest. He dropped his bow and unsheathed Shiro's blade, along with his own. An enemy spearsman hacked at his head. Aoi ducked and severed off the soldier's legs, bringing him to the floor and making a pool of blood. Then, with his left sword, blocked an enemy's sword, then spun and, with his right, stabbed the soldier through the back. Aoi quickly stood and beheaded him. He spun and with both blades crossed blocked another attacker.

"Pull back! Pull back!" shouted a captain.

Zhang Bao cut some retreats off and killed as many as he could. As most passed Shiro and Zhao Yun would cut them down. Guan Xing and Aoi attacked the soldiers who made it across Zhang Bao, but eventually they got away.

"Zhuge Liang orders that we pull back now." Said Zhang Bao.

"Why? We have them on the run!" said Shiro.

"Higher orders, Shiro." Said Aoi.

It was only hours before the news had reached Meng Huo.

"WHAT?!" shouted Meng Huo as he slammed his fist on the table. "THE HELL DO YOU MEAN E HAUN WAS CAPTURED! PATHETIC!"

The messengers backed away bowing, with both respect and fear.

"They're pathetic?" said his wife. "Looks to me like you're too cowardly to even go out there."

"Ridiculous! I'll beat them next time, just wait!" said Meng Huo. "LEAVE US!"

The messengers stood and left the room.

Meanwhile, Zhou Tai's army made their way back to Sun Quan's camp, no longer than two weeks away from Yi Ling. They entered through the gates and left towards their encampment. Zhou Tai went to his own room, letting the messengers report in instead of himself. Waiting for him was a woman, who seemed to arrive only few days before he had. She looked at the wounded general and walked up to him. She saw a new scar from above his eye to his cheek, and felt it. Zhou Tai placed his hand over hers.

"Who did this?" she asked.

"A phoenix…" he replied.

Zhou Tai leaned in and kissed her for a moment. They parted and the woman hugged him…it was Zhou Liu.