[Guo Jia]
I held my scepter firmly in my left hand, my right hand focused on steering my ash white horse. Wang Yi rode beside me on her own black one, holding her trishula. Volunteers rode behind us and slowly separated from the main group onto their own paths. Soon enough, Wang Yi was on a different path and I rode with only a few men. My eyes focused onwards, searching desperately amidst all the green nature for a hint of blue.
A shuffle between the bushes?
I hold out my arm stiffly and summon 3 orbs to my side, as they rotate around me. I hear more shuffling as I glare at the area suspiciously, awaiting an attack.
From the bushes something flies out and I float an orb before me to block it effortlessly. The arrow drastically derails and hits a tree. I send an orb in the same direction the arrow came from and-
"OUCH!"
I see Xiahou Yuan lift his head out from the bushes, rubbing his face from under the armor.
"Yuan?" I ask as I move my horse closer.
He looks up and blinks rapidly when seeing it's me, he left out a relieved breath.
"Thank the heavens, I was running out of arrows!"
I looks behind him to see if he has more people, he noticed my frantic looking and turned a different direction and pointed.
"We had set up camp there, to stay away from the animals."
I look in the direction cautiously, "Is Lord Cao Cao there?"
He nods, "Yeah he should be, unless he decided to walk off again."
I motion to the soldiers with me to go to their camp, and fully get a good look at Yuan-
"Yuan, your leg!"
He looks down meekly, at his bleeding leg, looking back up at me with a haughty laugh.
"This little thing? It's barely a scratch!"
I get off of my horse, albeit painfully, with the weight of gravity pushing onto my lungs. "Get on the horse." I ordered.
Yuan blinks at me, surprised at my actions, but I don't take them back. He limps over to my horse and climbs on carefully. I watch him, cautiously, in case he needs help.
"Yuan," I speak up, "Any knowledge about Jia Xu and Xu Shu's whereabouts?"
He settles on the horse, placing his bow around his arm.
"Not to my knowledge, but dun went back to look for them and he hasn't been back yet either. He must've found them."
Relief washes over me, as I let out a painful breath. With dun with them, they'll be okay.
Shuffling had came from the distance and bushes were pushed aside to reveal Cao Cao. He looks at me and quickly strides over to us.
"Xiahou Yuan, go back and rest." he ordered, with Yuan immediately riding off on my horse.
I quietly and politely bow to him, as I see his regal boots step closer to me.
"Guo Jia." He speaks up, his intimidating voice slightly softer than usual.
I look up from my hands as I see Lord Cao Cao slowly get down onto his knees in front of me. I step back in slight disbelief, watching My Lord slowly bend over into an apology position.
"I apologize."
He stated it so calmly, it almost was unnerving for me. But he continued-
"You had worked so hard, and believed in us so much, even if you didn't agree with my actions…and we had failed."
I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I accepted it and step closer to my friend.
"Do not worry about that. Are you alright,My Lord?" I ask.
He sits up anloo up at me, "I am not the one you're truly worried about."
I looked away silently, how long has he known?
"Yes...I'm sorry."
[Xu Shu]
It's almost jarring, to be standing up and moving again, my chest still hurts but I can walk to a degree.
When Xiahou Dun saw me walk again, he instantly bombarded me with concerns and questions about my condition. It was weird but comforting in a way.
I had watched as the guards in the Wei base, chained Lu Shan up. He ruthlessly pulled and fought against the metals, as they clanked against him. But when I saw a guard put a sword to his throat, I couldn't watch anymore.
I tried to walk away, but then I heard him yell-
"Get those damn chains off of her! She's not your problem! Don't touch her!"
My head whips around almost instantly, seeing the men attempting to chain Mei, who didn't even struggle against them.
My legs almost moved on their own, striding over to the men and taking the chain from them. The men slowly back away, letting me take up the responsibility.
Mei looked up at me, eyes wide and red from crying, it instantly pains me when I see her face. I looked down, but took a deep breath.
"Turn around." I ordered, as she did so without questions.
"Hands behind your back." She followed my order quietly.
"Don't you fucking touch her, you-" Lu Shan is instantly silenced when Xiahou Dun, places his Podao to his throat.
I gently grab her wrist, biting my lip as I wrap the chains around her. She didn't move, as I wrapped and tied the chains tightly. As I tugged on them gently, making sure they aren't loose, She whispered something to me-
"I'm sorry."
I didn't know how to reply to her. I don't believe any of this is her fault, but...in this situation how do I comfort her?
I gently pulled her away from the hostile men by her chains and led her to the prison cells in the base. We walked into a long dark hallway, and I gently led her down the stairs, she didn't look up at all. Soon my feet hit the final floor and I kept walking, only to stop at a large thud from behind me. When I quickly turned, she had fallen onto the ground. Her body twitch as she struggled to get up with her arms tied behind her. Running over, I gently put my arms around her and help her stand. Once on her feet, she slowly dragged her feet forward, leaving me to stand and then take lead again.
We reached the cell and I had opened the door calmly, turning to her. She had walked in without hesitation, slowly kneeling down to the floor and taking a seat, still in my reach from my position.
I reached my hand in, gently putting it against her head near her ribbons. I ruffle her head gently, making the ribbon untie and fall off. I didn't mean to knock it off, but she didn't react anyway.
I pull my hand away, stepping away from the depressing cell. She looked so small and feeble, it hurt to look at her. My hand twitched and balled as I force myself to walk away.
"LEMME GO! MEI!"
When I greeted the base again, I saw Lu Shan struggling even more fiercely against the chains. He made eye contact with me and got riled up even more.
"XU SHU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MEI!? I WILL-"
He was forced silent by Xiahou Dun striking him straight in the face. He grunted painfully, even causing me to whince. Dun then, walks behind him grabbing the base of the chain forcing him on his chained feet.
"You'll find out what he did to here. Because you're going to the cells too! Now get moving!"
Xiahou Dun commanded rudely and forcefully, pushing the bigger man toward the cell area. I stood beside the opening, looking away from Lu Shan.
Even though I refused to look up, I felt the daggers of his glare stab themselves into my body. They made me shiver, but I kept my eyes downward. But soon the cell area door closed and I couldn't hear their steps anymore.
"Zhānxīng shī." My eyes shoot upwards, meeting Jia Xu's as he smiles at me.
"Ah, Jia Xu. What do you need?"
His smile widens, Oh no.
He wraps his arm around me in a friendly manner. "I want to talk to you-"
"What is it about?" I ask him, a little worried about the response.
"So...are you going to talk to Guo Jia when you get back?"
Slight heat came to my face, and I look away. Somewhere deep down, I knew he was going to bring up FengXiao.
"Well, yes….There's a lot I want to tell him."
He whistles comically, pulling me closer. "What about….touching?"
My face flushes at the comment and I lean back, making him lean into me to keep his arm there.
"What? I mean, you and I both know how...experienced he is."
I look away, remembering the many mornings I walked in on him recovering from a 'fun' night with a person. Even FengXiao himself asking me how I feel about sex and all. Then all the sexual innuendos he often makes. It's almost too much.
"So? How do you think you're going to satisfy him?"
"S-Satisfy?"
"Well of course, satisfy. I mean, Guo Jia is vastly superior to you in this regard so, you will need a bit of a leeway."
I shake my head at his statement-No, this whole conversation!
"When we...get to that point...Then I'll really think about it."
He chuckles and looks away from me, ruffling my hair.
"Yeah, when you get to that point."
I look away from him, really thinking about what I said.
Well….If we get to that point.
[A/N] HERE YOU GO! Have a short but slightly angsty but nice chapter! I really love exploring Jia Xu and Xu Shu's Friendship! And Guo Jia and Cao Cao are still as close as ever! I can't wait for them to regroup and find one another! Meanwhile, poor little Mei really needs a pick-me-up TT^TT. Anyway I hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter!
