Chapter 36
Reunited
"Just let me beat the shit out of him." Sun Shang Xiang turned and stared at Sun Quan. "I always have, why stop doing what has always worked?"
"Sunny." Liu Bei took her hand and kissed it. "We're trying to ally against Cao Cao. Beating your brother will only make him more afraid of us."
"He has every right to be." Shang grinned at Zhou Tai knowing he could read her lips. "Because I'm taking his empire away from him. He doesn't deserve our father's empire."
Tai rolled his eyes and looked over at Ying who was doing the same. The sibling feud was becoming irritating. All the two could do was throw insults back and forth and drive everyone else in the room crazy. It was achieving nothing except making Quan whiney. The former pirate looked beside him at the other two individuals who were always in the room 'discussing' the truce. Zhou Yu was, as usual, distant and irritated. He didn't do very much since he was still not reinstated as master strategist, and he made that point very clear. Lu Xun was just plain worried. It would seem the fate of Wu rested on his young shoulders. Somehow he needed to stop the bickering, form an alliance and still maintain his favor with their lord. Tai returned his eyes to Ying who was always staring at him, undressing him with her deep brown eyes. He ached to be with her, but this nonsense was preventing them from being close. Quan always wanted to bitch about something, and Tai was the only one he ever wanted to bitch to.
Yue Ying smiled as she mentally pealed away Tai's plate armor and revealed his broad chest and rippled abdominal muscles. She paused in her mind, stopping to explore each muscle with her tongue and looking up into his deep dark eyes that always took her breath away. She stopped momentarily to realize that it wasn't just in her imagination that she was focused on his omnipotent gaze. He briefly gave her a smile that betrayed his desires. Suddenly she wanted to cry. Finally after all this time everything was right for them. She was no longer attached to Zhuge Liang, the distance between Cheng Du and Jian Ye no longer separated them and they both wanted to be with one another. But then the reality of the war stepped in, and despite the close proximity they were enemies. Sun Quan had attack Guan Yu unprovoked. That was not going to go away.
Pang Tong shuffled up and looked at the various array of emotions displayed upon the faces of the officers in front of him. Liu Bei was distressed, Shang pissed, Quan grumpy, Tai....well anyone's guess, Ying miserable, Zhou Yu haughty and Lu Xun chipper but anxious. Poor kid, he was trying so hard to stay happy despite his worried eyes. Overall four strategists, two bodyguards and two emperors. No wonder nothing was being accomplished. Cao Cao was approaching fast; they needed to work something or nothing out now.
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"Looks like our rear guard." Chao kissed Cal's neck before they got too close.
"You sound so upset." Cal rubbed his hand and kissed his jaw. "At least we still have an army."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I know what you meant." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment while it lasted.
They rode up to a familiar figure standing before them in green. "Hi. Name's Guan Yu."
Cal slid out of the saddle and hugged the giant. "Nice to meet you."
"It's been awhile." Chao smiled down at him.
"Too damned long." Yu looked Cal over. She was bruised and obviously hurting, but her spirits were high. She had an optimistic look about her, something he could never recall seeing. "What's this?" He looked at the green gem ring on her finger.
"I got claimed."
"Chao is this your doing?" Yu looked up at the young man that was grinning like a child getting a new toy.
"Yeah."
"Well I guess we can talk about this later." Yu pointed in the general direction of the meeting. "They're over that way. I had to keep my distance; I've been dealing with that asshole too long."
"Well, shall we intrude?" Cal looked up at her fiancé.
"If you promise not to kill anyone." He held out his arm for her to grab on to. "You don't do that anymore."
"Well if she gave up on it entirely, she's a really shitty general now." Zhang Fei yawned. They had him drinking tea now...tea. Yuk.
"You know what I mean." Chao wrapped his arm around her waist again, where it belonged.
"What's with the tea, Fei?" Cal asked the huge man.
Fei looked at Guan Yu's face and sneered. "I'm an alcoholic."
"That's right." Yu smiled. "So we're being supportive, just like we were of your little problem."
"Yes..." Cal smiled at Fei. "Somehow murdering people seems a bit more severe than being continually drunk."
"Well," Fei rubbed the back of his head. "I should have been there when all that shit went down. Bei's my brother, how I could have let that asshole Lu Bu get that close to him or Liang drug him.....ahhh. It made me realize I was drinking too damned much to be of any use to anyone. Good luck convincing your cousin Dai of that though. He's trying to drink for both of us."
"Great." Chao rubbed Cal's hip.
"Hey, grabby." Yu put his hands on the saddle pommel. "That ring doesn't mean jack shit. Hands off in camp, we're still rebounding from the announcement that Lu Bu's dead."
"Big hit on morale." Fei stared into his cup. "So was old Zhuge."
"With Cao Cao closing in and Wu being stubborn, who can blame them?" Guan Yu looked over at Guan Ping trying to rouse his troop with boasting.
"Well, we're back." Chao smiled. "We'll see what that does for morale."
"So what did you tell them?" Cal asked, fearing the worst.
"We had to tell them the truth." Yu shrugged. "Wei assassins attacked and wiped them out. Technically you were kind of under Wei orders, you were trying to assassinate someone and they died."
"It's okay honey, I'll always know you killed him." Cal patted Chao's hand then stopped when Yu gave her the admonishing look.
"Behave, go see your lord. He's worried sick."
"Same old shit. That man's going to worry himself to death." Fei threw the cup at Ping. "Hey kid, I'll show you how to tell a story!"
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Liu Bei stretched as he walked out of the tent and looked over at the river. It was insane. How the hell was this going to work out? Neither one of the Sun kids would budge; they both had inherited that from their father. Then he heard a pot shatter, Shang had thrown something else. What the hell was he going to do? He looked up as he caught a glimpse of a red horse coming his way...was that....
"Hey? Can you point us in the direction of the war?" Cal asked and jumped off the horse.
Liu Bei walked up and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank god you're alright."
"And I'm grabby..." Chao muttered as he dismounted.
"AHHHHHH!" Shang screamed and ran over to them jumping on her friend and husband at once. "You're BACK!"
"I got rescued by this really hot general here." Cal grinned at Chao. "I offered him a reward but he's a prude."
"What's all the hollering?" Ying came out of the tent with Tong and Tai.
"Ooohhh. Group lovin'." Tong giggled.
"Hey, before I let go of you." Bei squeezed Cal, "Let me make one thing very clear. You don't have to protect me like that anymore. Okay? No more assassinating people or marrying the enemy......what's this?" Bei caught a glimpse of her new ring.
"That is what we call a ring. It is a finely crafted piece of jewelry that goes on your finger and....awwww...hurts a lot when a mean old Shu lord crushes your hand when you're being a smart ass." Cal tried to pull her hand away.
Bei looked over at Chao, "Young man I thought I made it very clear that you had to go through the proper method of asking for her hand."
"Well.....when the moment's right..."Chao shrugged.
"We should get back to discussing the treaty, or lack there of. If you are done with this display." Sun Quan growled from the tent flap.
"Ohhh...can I come?" Cal asked.
"I have the threat portion of the discussion covered. "Shang smiled. "Speaking of...hey Quan! You better not be touching yourself in there!"
Cal watched Shang run back into the tent. She gave Bei a smile. "I have been trained in methods other than killing."
"Oh yeah, sleep with him. Right after you get engaged. Sheesh." Tong nudged Tai "I can't believe you two dated."
Tai looked down at the short man and shrugged. "She just used me for my body."
"I'd like to use your body." Ying sighed
"Your kingdom is completely insane. Every last one of you." Tai laughed and walked back into the tent.
"So can I come in?" Cal asked. "Pllllllleeeeeeaaaaasssssee?"
"Sure." Bei began to walk back in. "You can't make matters worse."
"I'll see you later baby!" Cal scurried after her lord and gave Chao a wink.
"What did you mean by dated?" Chao asked Tong before the sage giggled and retreated into the tent.
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"I don't think it is fair for you to have another person in here. I mean what can she do?" Quan huffed and sat down.
Zhou Yu looked up at the new arrival and cocked an eyebrow. Quan's question was a good one, what exactly could she do? He sat up and crossed his arms. Whatever it was, it would be good.
"Well, let me tell you about what an independent specialist of the Remus Legion does." Cal smiled politely at the Wu lord and noticed she had everyone's attention. "Other than the obvious assassin and spy duties there is another highly entertaining task that we were trained to do: Demoralization. It's not really anything difficult, if you're already infiltrating an enemy army you'll want to make yourself blend in. So you immerse yourself in their culture, become one of the guys so on and so forth. It's really simple. Like this one time in Thrace. I had to spy on this one commander's unit, which I did. But while I was there gathering information and relaying it back to my forces I started fraternizing. Around the campfire at night I just started asking little questions. Like, "Did you hear the Roman's have three times our numbers?" or "Why is the General always drinking expensive wine and sleeping in fur while we starve and sleep in mud?" You get the point, right?"
"No, what is your point?" Quan snapped.
"Only that it would be interesting if someone started asking questions in your camp. Maybe regarding the unethical attack on Guan Yu? Perhaps the demotion of your famous strategist that was good enough for Sun Jian and Sun Ce, but somehow doesn't meet your standards."
Zhou Yu smirked; he saw where she was going with this. Quan was still unconvinced though. He looked over at Liu Bei who also understood how his young Roman was going to undermine the Wu lord's confidence. He watched as Cal began to pace.
"And now that I think about it, most of your men seemed shocked by Liu Bei's behavior towards me. Almost as he treated me as family, greeting me warmly with a hug after my horrible ordeal with Cao Cao. Now as I recall it was Sun Tzu who said "Look upon your soldiers as beloved children, and they willingly die with you." Funny how I, a worthless Roman soldier, have learned the wisdom of your greatgrandfather and not you. Me who used to consider bodyguards a renewable resource. I know there are quite a few men of yours that had to wonder what it would be like to serve a thoughtful emperor instead of some whiney little rich boy who can't leave his tent without his personal bodyguard. Oh...and on that topic. I do have to wonder what you men would think when they're told that Liu Bei ordered one of his tiger generals away in the heat of battle, because that man's love was on her way back to certain torture and death. Yet you, Sun Quan, refuse to allow Zhou Tai to leave your side even though you are fully aware that he is in love with Yue Ying. How very incredible it is that our emperor could be so selfless for the people that serve him yet you can only pout and throw fits when your men try and have a life outside of your five foot radius."
"She can't do that...can she?" Quan asked Zhou Yu.
"That." Yu cleared his throat. "Is a question for your master strategist. A position that I, regrettably, no longer hold."
"I don't believe you." Quan growled obviously agitated.
"Fine, I'd love nothing more than to completely destroy your force's morale and have us attack in the morning. We'll add your men and probably quite a few of your officers. Then we will go after Cao Cao and give him the surprise of his life. And do you want to know why this is all possible, hmmmm?" Cal slammed her fist on the table and made Quan jump. "Because you never piss off a Roman. We'll sack and burn your town, assimilate your culture, split your shitty country into three parts and take everything without giving anything back in return. There was nothing that was allowed to tarnish the Glory of Rome, and if you dared us....by god your country was swallowed whole. These were my people. This is my legacy. And I will bring that hell upon Wei for everything that bastard has done to me. You think I fear your pathetic little kingdom? When I alone have destroyed armies with nothing more than a three inch blade and words? Please. All you need to do is issue a challenge. Are you up to it? I sure as hell am. I'm kind of curious how long it will take before I can deliver your army to my lord on a silver platter."
Quan looked to Lu Xun. "What is your suggestion, as strategist?"
"Sir, I have learned to stop doubting her."
"Dare me..." Cal challenged.
"I believe Cao Cao to be the greater menace." Liu Bei stood up and looked at Quan. "Since Guan Yu has forgiven you....I will as well."
"Very well, but this is merely an alliance." Sun Quan stood up.
"Damnit, I want his empire!" Shang hollered.
"Sunny!" Bei looked her in the eye. "First things first."
"How will we decide whose strategy to accept, or who will command?" Sun Quan began to regret his discussion.
"Easy." Tong smacked his staff on the ground. "Lu Xun gets to be strategist. He's the only one who hasn't had the chance in a major battle."
"Really?" Xun's eyes twinkled.
"Yup. Go get em kiddo." Tong smiled.
"I have a plan!" Xun grabbed the map excitedly.
"That was quick." Zhou Yu looked over and watched Xun grin.
"FIRE ATTACK!" Xun beamed and began shuffling miscellaneous papers off the table.
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"Then we meet again tomorrow morning to finalize our plans." Sun Quan nodded to Liu Bei and looked over at the happy Lu Xun being egged on by Pang Tong. How odd that the Shu strategist was encouraging the boy that would more than likely oppose them after this upcoming battle. Then there was Zhou Yu......what to do with him?
Zhou Tai watched Sun Quan's confused look run from person to person. Something Cal had said struck a chord and he could help but think about how his duty should not keep him from making things official with Ying. After all he still did have the pirate mentality of live for the day cause tomorrow you more then likely will be dead. He pulled his necklace off and looked at it. It was a coin, a simple silver coin, the first thing he ever plundered. It was really the only thing he ever kept, it would have to do. Without lifting his eyes from the pendant he walked over to Ying and shifted his eyes to meet hers. "It's not much, but I hope you'll take it as a token of my intentions."
Ying looked up at him as the people around them grew quiet. "Intentions?"
"Huang Yue Ying, will you be my wife?"
"Oh hell yes." She jumped up and looped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Then let me put this dumb trinket around your neck and stop Lu Xun from giving you that come-hither look."
"DAMMIT! I told you I didn't know she was your woman!" Xun screamed at the top of his lungs.
"And I told you, missy, that rogue was going to have to ask me for you first! What is wrong with your girls? Don't you have any respect for tradition?" Tong shook his staff at Ying as she grinned.
"Fine, I guess he'll have to come back to camp with me, er us, and ask you tonight."
"That makes two of you." Bei crossed his arms and stared at Chao.
"Wow, it pays to be a widow around here." Lu Xun observed.
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"Zhou Tai." Tong sat back in his chair and looked at the man with a questioning gaze.
"Present." Tai watched Ying bubble with excitement as she sat next to a curious looking Liu Bei.
"Style name?" Tong asked.
"Youping."
"Ewwwww." Tong frowned.
"Awwww." Ying smiled. "I think it's cute."
"I agree, it sucks." Tai nodded.
"Okay, next question. What is your favorite food group?"
"Starch."
"True or false: Ying has fantasized about you being with other men."
"False, she's too selfish for that. She may have thought about you two together." Tai watched Bei frown and Tong laugh.
"What are you going to do if you get married and we go to war?" Bei asked.
"We will do our duty, as always."
"Do you like cheese?" Tong asked
"Yes."
"Are you going to turn Ying into a pirate?" Tong smiled.
"Is she going to turn me into a strategist?"
"If Sima Yi, Lu Xun, Zhou Yu, Ying and I were trapped in a room together forced to play trivia who would win?"
"The one that stayed home." Tai smiled back.
"Correct! Inevitable bloodbath would lead to forfeit. You win...." Tong looked around for something tangible. "Ah hell, take her."
"And here I thought I would have to speak to your actual parents." Tai welcomed his fiancé into his lap and watched a smile play across her face.
"Well I neglected to inform them that I'm a widow....so you'll be a complete surprise."
"Good. I'd hate to waste my imposing character on just military personnel."
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Cal tried to wrestle her finger away from Lu Xi's tight grip as the child screeched with delight. "What do you think about all this kid? How do I tell you when you get older that I helped kill you dad because he was trying to build an empire for you?"
Wei Yan stretched out on his stomach and waved a small stuffed dragon toy in front of the year old child to get his attention. The boy chirped and latched onto the toy and Yan smiled. "Chao..new dad."
"And that talk makes it sound like you're missing your husband." Huang Zhong poked her arm.
"I can't help it.....there was a time when we really got along well. We were alike....then I condemned him because I changed."
"He tried to kill the emperor." Zhong watched Xi slap at his mom's leg.
"How do I know...." Cal watched the two men look at her, "How do I know that it won't happen again?"
Yan laughed. "Chao...not...evil."
"I betrayed my husband. That is what I am concerned about. I changed once.....will I change back?"
"You changed for him, kid. That's the important thing." Zhong smiled.
"We're so different." Cal let her son tug on her bracers. "Differences that used to offend him."
"Where is all this coming from?" Zhong asked.
"I don't want Chao to be another one of my victims." She looked into her son's eyes and saw his father. She couldn't help but think back to when they had first met in Luo Yang, neither one of them had any idea of what the future held. Then there was Xia Pi and the disastrous ramifications of that fiasco. She had set him up for all of this, and then eliminated him when he was no longer of use. Wasn't that what she was so upset about back then? Cao Cao doing the same thing to him that Rome had done to her? Why the hell did she care? She never felt regret when thinking about anyone who had fallen by her hand, why now? Why for him?
"Lu Bu....bad." Yan took Xi and rolled over on his back to toss the child in the air.
"I'm just really wrong for Chao. He's gorgeous, honorable an important man. How do I fit in? I'm just a plain commoner, from an entirely different world. My existence has depended on me doing the sort of things people never wanted to get their hands dirty with and I don't know how to be a wife. I'm a soldier...and I don't think I am going to do well outside of army life."
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"Alright, Zhou Tai's interrogation is complete...on to you." Liu Bei walked over to the campfire and looked down at Chao as he sat beside Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.
"The way you're talking it sounds like you're the one that's going to be approving him." Yu queried to his brother.
"Well it's nice to know I'm not sounding cryptic." Bei frowned.
"Xuande, I initially asked her to join us to protect you and give you someone to sleep with." Yu reminded him.
"You what?" Chao was surprised.
"Hey yeah!" Fei pointed an accusatory finger at his oldest brother. "We did figure she was going to jump in your bed."
"What's happening?" Cal walked up with Shang and only heard a part of the conversation.
"Did you know that Yu recruited you to sleep with Liu Bei?" Chao asked as his woman leaned against him and played with his hair.
"It was just an added bonus." Yu smiled.
Cal frowned. "I wish you boys were clearer on your orders. I can't believe I missed out on that opportunity."
"HEY!" Shang latched on to her husband.
"Oh it was well before you liked him....or even before he liked you. I kind of remember you running away from her and being pissed about your horse's mane being braided."
"Uh....well...that was before I really knew her."
"And you never told me you wanted to sleep with him!" Shang snapped.
"When I told you how good he looked without a shirt on, you should have picked up on that."
"Damn." Shang looked away thoughtfully. "I did miss that one didn't I?"
"Talk about missing out." Cal winked at Liu Bei. "Grrrrr..."
"Honey. You're making me nervous." Chao patted her thigh.
"Anyhow." Yu drew their attention back to him. "The fact of the matter is that I was the one who brought her to Shu and therefore I should be the one who asks the questions and reviews his answers."
"Tough luck huh?" Cal began playing with Chao's ear.
"Stop that!" Yu pushed her hand off the happy young man. "No foreplay until he suffers through a talk with us!"
"As long as I get to help." Liu Bei pecked Shang's cheek with a kiss.
"What about me?" Zhao Yun came up to the fire dragging Ma Dai. "You need to help him. He drank so much his gut's going to burst. I don't really know how to make him stop, so I'm giving him to the recovering alcoholic."
"Yippie." Fei looked down at an unconscious Ma Dai lying in a pile of leaves.
"So, can I piss off Chao too? I've had to hear him describe her with adjectives I've never even heard of before." Yun watched Guan Yu shrug an acceptance. "Excellent."
"Great....this is going to take all night isn't it?" Chao asked hesitantly.
"Yup, so better start now." Yu walked into the tent.
"Enjoy baby." Cal gave him a kiss. "After you're done with them come see me."
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AN: Sorry this is taking so long to post, I've gotten myself distracted with Legacy of the Lunar Spear. I've tried to take a bit more time with this chapter, the last two were somewhat rushed and I'm not incredibly fond of how well they were written.
SexieVixen: I'm along way from being finished with this one so don't worry. I still have a few more battles, the fates of the three kingdoms to settle, a Sima Yi plot to evolve, the married couples trying to cope with home life away from the army, Liu Chan getting himself into trouble and I'm sure much more. Nice to know you're still out there!
Abbasabu: To answer your questions/comments
1. I disagree. From a game perspective: I've been able to beat Lu Bu's ass with Ma Chao consistently, even in duels. Novelwise: Cao Cao ran like a wussy from Ma Chao but hunted Lu Bu like it was an ordinary deer-drive. Lu Bu may have fought the three brothers, but he took off when he got tired and thought he might get nailed from behind. Ma Chao fought Zhang Fei for two days and ended up in an even match-and probably would have continued to fight him had Zhuge not decided to recruit him instead. Anyhow it's all a matter of debate since the boys never got a chance to fight one another. However in my fictions, Ma Chao will always win because I like him and in DW games I never loose when I choose him.
2. Those robed strategists have those light blasting fans.....bastards
3. I had to let Zhang Fei turn into a worthless alcoholic since I had way to many characters to work with. Having enough worthless alcholics in my own family, I knew having him disappear for a while and miss out on important events was plausible. I gave him some AA help to get him back involved in this chapter after something traumatic, ie assination attempt on Liu Bei, made him realise he was missing out on life. Besides, Lu Bu and Zhuge were so high maintenance I didn't neeed anothe boy to look after. Huang Zhong had to be parted from Wei Yan because he was ordered to, funny thing about the army.
4.Well we'll have to see what I have in store for those boys....
Ticktock44: I know it seems like it was moving way too fast, but I had to end the old plots and schemes and move on with the new. I wish I could have done a better job on those battle scenes, but I was just so damned lazy. I had an image of a LB/SSX daughter wielding twin swords....but I'll save that for another story. Have to wait too long for the stupid kids to grow up. No wonder everyone just adopts someone out of their ranks.
Guan: Thanks for the info about the stylenames. As always, I appreciate your opinion.
J.Wei: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you enjoy my work. I do need to get back to the GTA:LY story, I have that one half written. I'm getting tangled up on the character development, actions scenes and general mayhem. Not to mention distracted by other stories. I should have realized by the time I reached Chapter 36 this one would be highly involved and complex.. Don't worry, Jiang Wei will be a good guy in the rest of the fics I've got going. Something about this one just makes me want to corrupt and kill off characters.....
The Chronicler: Don't worry, Liu Chan will create some massive havoc.....hehehehe...