Although it was midday, the sun was barely peaking through the tree line. The convoy had ventured deep into the forest. Nothing but the sounds of various birds, bugs, and other animals surrounding them. The sounds of the forest nearly drowned out the marching of the men and the hooves of the horses. They were fairly on track and Ma Dai expected to reach Meng Huo's kingdom by nightfall. He had stressed over how the previous day had not gone well. His men were nearly attacked by a pack of tigers that seemed to stalk them the moment they entered the forest. He had sensed something from the previous days before his fear came to fruition. Luckily, they were scared off by one skilled marksman and his small firing squad. He would have offered his thanks Saika had it not been for the fact that he tried yet again to hit it off with Guan Yinping. She, again, denied his requests. Had it not been for his firearm capabilities, he would have left him behind the first day of the journey. Still, he had to give his appreciation for scarring off such deadly beasts.
He trailed behind his friends and soldiers as Magoichi was near the back of the convoy with the other riflemen. With his humiliation by the hooves of Yinping's steed, he decided to traverse by foot, even if that hadn't stopped his attempts to ride with the lady.
"So, not only you are too stubborn to ride with anyone, you are actively refusing and would rather walk."
Although he had heard what he said, the marksman didn't want to acknowledge him him. At least not wanting to look his way. "Yeah, well someone with my skills has to stay vigilant and be ready for anything. Being on a horse can really hamper that."
"Any regular horse to you, yet you are more than willing to ride on Lady Yinping's horse."
"Absolutely, she seems to be a smooth rider for me. Giving me a chance to enhance my skills." And it's not the horse I'm interested in riding.
Ma Dai didn't need to read his mind to understand the underlined meaning of his comment. He couldn't help but feel disgusted at it being targeted towards his dear friend. True, he too had imagined being close to her, both romantically and intimately, but he was never up front about it. What made it seem worse was that Magoichi has never really treated women with respect, seemingly only interested in their bodies and nothing else. At least that's from what he heard about the marksman. Not exactly somebody you want around the young lady. Especially when that young lady was his dear friend.
He felt the need to lambaste the comment until an overwhelming presence came over him. The feeling caused him to holt Yuqiang where he stood. Magoichi took noticed and asked what was wrong. Ma Dai gave the command to have everyone holt. The convoy froze in place and everyone scanned the environment around them. Even the forest itself was silent, as if it was anticipating something. The two men took defensive stances. They were on the right tract, which could only mean thing.
"Hey, Ma Dai, you smell that?"
"Yeah, Meng Huo."
A large, camouflaged man stood up from the shrubbery with a hand greeting them. It was the mighty king himself. Amazing how he was able to hide despite his massive build. He walked over to Ma Dai and Magoichi. Some of the men had to be told to stand down as they thought they were about to be ambushed. The general hopped off his horse and both men gave a courteous bow to the giant man.
"My lord, it's great to see you in good health."
"Ah, as you, my friends." Meng Huo returned the gesture before giving them a big hug. His massive arms practically held the two of them in each one. The unexpected gesture nearly left the two completely out of breath. He lowered them back down, already knowing why they were there. "Now, Master Zhuge Liang has informed me that you wish to travel into the Deadlands?"
"Uh, yes," Ma Dai had to stretch out his back as it was a little sore from the hug. "We understand that we need your blessing first for safe passage."
"Why do we need it in the first place if you don't mind me asking?"
"Ah, that is because of the other tribes of this region, Magoichi. I may be the king, but I do not control what their actions might be towards trespassers. Especially when this is an army that is very well armed. Might cause some uneasy tension."
"Not to mention," Ma Dai says, "without his blessing, we would be taking a path that is far more dangerous just to avoid those other tribes." The painter hopped back onto his saddle. "Lord Meng Hugo, if you would be so kind to lead us to your kingdom, please." The wild king laughed at the request and obliged. Ma Dai, Magoichi, and the rest of the convoy followed the him through the forest, and eventually, made their way to his kingdom.
The sun had fallen over the kingdom and the air was filled with laughter and joy. A feast was prepared for Ma Dai and his men. The soldiers spoiled themselves with piles of finely cooked food and wine, curtesy of queen Zhu Rong. The painter, his second in command Yukimura and several of the captains sat along a fire the king and queen. No doubt discussing important stuff. Guan Yinping was taking periodic glances over their direction while simultaneously chowing down on the unbelievably delicious food. The meat was cooked just the way she liked, juicy and tender. Before she realized, she had eaten nearly all of the that was in front of her. She kinda forgot that she wasn't by herself. Across from her was her ninja friend who stared in amazement at her massive intake of food. Kunoichi couldn't believe what she was seeing. How could a women as small as her be able to fill herself up with so much food. She might be the smallest of the Guan's, but she had just as big of an appetite.
"Kunoichi, you've barely touched your food, are you not hungry?"
"Uh, no, I-uh lost my appetite. Here, knock yourself out." She handed the bowl of food over as Yinping's eyes lit up, no need to let it go to waste. She chowed down with a big smile on her face as her friend continued to stare in disbelief. It was like watching a kitten eating a bear whole and still acting it was hungry. The whole banquet could've been made for her and she'd probably would eat everything. Hell, she'd might have room for even more. "Um, do you mind if I ask you something, Kunoichi?" She finally managed to shoot a look towards her dining mate. Some sauce was imbedded on the side of her mouth.
"Wait, before you say anything, let me get that for you..." she reached over and scraped off the gunk from her face. Yinping didn't expect the gesture.
"Um, thank you. But I-uh, I wanted to ask if you ever wanted to train with me sometime? You know, when we come back home after all of this. I've heard that working with someone who's fast can help build stamina. I could use that boost to last longer in battle, and my reaction times, too!"
Kunoichi remembered how she would train with the Bear Princess herself, Kai. The difference was the Kai was well aware of her strength, Yinping wasn't.
"Hmm, well I'm willing to help, but why don't you ask Ma Dai! He might not be the fastest, but he does have the experience to keep you on your toes. Trust me on that!" She remembers when she first sparred with him. It was after she was lifted from her influence under Kiyomori's magic. Even with her speed and ninjitsu, he was able to keep up and even outmaneuver her. Even he tricks couldn't shake him up. But every time he got the better of her, whenever she would put herself down, he would always lend his helping hand and calming words to bring herself back up. She knew she could trust him at that point.
"Oh-um, I haven't thought about that actually." Her face lit up with the thought of training with him, but she appeared to put herself down afterwards. "But I think he would rather train with someone else other than me. I'm just not at his level, he'd probably would be mostly upset with my skills."
"Seriously? He would love to train with you, I've seen what you can do against Kai. Besides," she placed her arm over Yinping's shoulders and gave her sly look, "it's a great way to get some alone time with him, maybe it'll lead to something more intimate for you two."
It took a little for the wheels in her head to start spinning before she realized the meaning. "Nn-nNO! That's not what I was thinking! Although... I-I mean, oh gods." She looked like a mess, the thought of her and the man she secretly, or not so secretly, loved alone together after training. Their two sweaty bodies as one. The more she kept thinking about it, the redder she became. She was able to snap out of her fanatical thoughts after hearing the ninja giggle.
"Relax, I'm only kidding. But in all seriousness, you don't have to put yourself down about anything. Ma Dai would love to be able to train with you and be by your side on the battlefield. And hey, whenever this all over, if there no more wars, who knows? Maybe you two could be happily married." Man, that's super corny now that I've said it...
The lady felt inspired by those words. She nodded in agreement, eyes glimmering with resolve. "You know, you're right Kunoichi! The first thing I'll do when we get back home is ask him to train with me. We will become stronger together, just imagine all we can accomplish side by side. And maybe, he see me as someone more than that."
He already does, Kunoichi said to herself, don't know why either of you can just air it all out to each other!
"Thank you, all this excitement has worked up an appetite. Do you think they'll bring out more food."
YOU JUST ATE NEARLY EVERYTHING HERE, WHERE DOES IT GO?!
Ma Dai was greatful for the feast, but more importantly was the information from Meng Huo about the Deadlands. He talked about everything he knew about the land. How it was now wasn't what it used to be. The land was a simple desert the separated Nanzhong from the Great Mountain. Nothing more until the day the sky above fractured and the land began to change into a twisted wasteland, undoubtedly a result of Orochi death. Dark clouds spewing from the cracks and covering the ground like a fog. It went out for miles from what he could see. Once it had lifted, the land was scarred beyond recognition. It is as if time itself was frozen.
This all happened before the supply line from the Shu fort had stopped. Once the land had changed, not a word was heard from the base again. Meng Huo had sent men to check on the base but after their expected return had passed, they were never seen or heard from again. Something lied within the land that made people disappear. Meng Huo forbidded anyone from entering afterword, believing that creatures or some unknown force was behind the disappearances. Their were also rumors of people who lived within that were the cause. There was still a lot that was unknown which didn't surprise the painter, but he wondered whether he was leading everyone to their doom.
There was a lot that was weighing on him and his thoughts. It was too late to turn away, he was already committed to the mission with all the preparations and with making it this far. Still, the road remained long and unknown. What sort of surprises were they in for, and how dangerous was the Deadlands? How could he ensure the safety of everyone? His men? His soldier's? His friend's? Kunoichi and Lady Yinping's?
I need to take a breather. He became overwhelmed by his thoughts. Something he was far more use to than he wanted to admit. Ma Dai left the makeshift tent and wandered around the camp. Everyone was asleep aside from the night guards patrolling the perimeter. He watched some of them before two had noticed and stood in place, bowing as he approached.
"Lord Ma Dai, you are still awake?" One of the guards asked. He was one of Tokugawa's men. His "finest" as the warlord had put it.
"Just taking break from some late night work, that's all. Nothing wrong with a small stroll in the early morning hours, right?"
The two looked at eachother with slight confusion, "Um, no it isn't my lord. It's just that with it being so late that you won't have enough time to sleep, you know, not having enough energy."
"Believe me, I've had many sleepless nights before that I've gotten use to it. More importantly, you two need to remain alert. Resume your patrols. We don't another tiger situation like before. Just in case anything else decides to get a little hungry."
"Right away, my lord! We'll get right on it." The two began to walk away before one turned around again. "Oh, before I forget, Lady Yinping is also awake. She said she was going to do some training for a couple hours."
"At this point of the night?" Ma Dai knew she was one for gaining strength over anything else but was still strange
"That's what we said. She shouldn't be too far from camp."
"Thank you. As you were, gentlemen." The two walked away. Ma Dai made his way towards the edge of the camp and scanned the base of the trees. Beyond the point of one, he saw a feint light. No doubt that was her, there was no full moon so she couldn't see without some sort of light.
He slowly made his way over to her as he didn't want to startle her. The last poor soul that did that got sent into a rice field several meters away. She was in a small clearing free of any trees. Even if there were some, she probably could easily knock them away without trying. She was swinging her massive duel-headed mace around in such a fast, yet delicate manner. The sheer weight of the weapon has made even some of the strongest soldiers struggle to use it effectively. Yet, here she was, as if she was performing a dangerous dance. Balancing the two sides effortlessly, as if they were the weight of feathers. She's was doing it with such grace, much like Diao Chan if she could lift boulders with ease. She was truly mesmerizing with her fluidity in her movement. Hard to believe that the mace heads are a little more that 100 pounds each. No wonder some soldiers run away at the site of her, hear was someone with the strength of, as Kunoichi would put it, a bear, yet had the speed and gracefulness of a bird. It was terrifying to her enemies, but something Ma Dai truly admired. After one more massive swing that made the leaves around blow away from shear force, she lowered her weapon to stair off into the sky.
"You know, my lady, sometimes I don't know whether you are fighting or putting on a stunning performance."
She quickly turned to the voice, flustered to see that it was her lord sporting that usual smile of his.
"My lord, I-I didn't hear you walk up. Were you watching me train the whole time?"
"No, just got here not that long ago. Some of the guards told me you went off to train, at night."
"Oh, well I'm used to training at least once a day and I thought that it would be okay to do it at night. You know, that way there are less chances of me accidentally hitting someone, again."
She still remembers the day she was sparing with her one of her brothers only to knock into all of them and her father.
"Well that may be true, but it is hard to sleep through the night when small earthquakes are going on. Especially in such quick succession."
"Oh, I'm sorry for that, my lord! I didn't mean t-" She stopped midway when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm only joking my lady. I was already having trouble sleeping anyway, to tell you the truth. I think I might have eaten little too much food, or maybe something didn't agree with me. Some of the alcohol is quite strong, too."
Ma Dai had a tendency of rambling on, trying to bury his real feelings away. Something that Yinping was able to notice.
"Are you sure, my lord? You seem fine, aside from tiredness. I mean, I ate a lot at the feast and I feel fine. Just burning off the fat, you know? Not that I gain much of it anyway."
He chuckled a little, "Well, I guess you can say that I'm a little uneasy of our current situation. A small battalion marching into a mostly uncharted land. Land that is heavily impacted by Orochi's dark magic after he was defeated. I'm worried because I don't know what to expect. Thinking of what might happen to us."
She felt the seriousness of his tone. She could only wonder what was said amongst him and her other superiors. "The remnants of Orochi's power still remains in this world," Ma Dai continues, "Yet, it the Deadlands seems to be a heavily concentrated area. A place where 'time stands still' and people haven't been seen since entering."
"And you're worried because you wonder if that will become of us, right?"
He simply nodded. He leaned onto a tree nearby before continuing to talk.
"It's just, I don't know, everything I've been told up to this point was just not to worry. 'Nothing should happen, Ma Dai,'" he began to mimic Tokugawa and Zhuge Liang, "'This is a low risk mission, so here's only a hundred soldiers, and by the way, we won't tell you about were you're going because we don't know ourselves.'"
She didn't mean to laugh but she couldn't help herself. His expressions were pretty spot on, albeit, a little disrespectful. It isn't too often for her friend to air out his frustrations like this. Normally he would just put up a front and pretty like nothing is happening. She thought that he must be very worried on any potential danger they'll face.
"I'm sorry, my lady. I'm just acting foolish, and I'm probably just overreacting."
"No, not at all, Lord Ma Dai!" She shook her head and walk up to him, clenching her mace. "You have every right to be worried about the mission. None of us really know what we're getting ourselves into. But that's why we're soldiers, right. And you never have to worry with me around."
He felt the passion from her voice along along with her clenched fist. No doubt she was confident in words to protect him.
"Thank you, Lady Yinping. But I'm the one who convinced your father to have come with us so technically it's my responsibility to protect you."
"Hehe, so it is. Listen, before I forget, do you mind if I ask you something? Whenever this is over and we come back home, would you please train with me, personally? I know that may sound weird but I think that their might be something that I can learn from you. You know, your cool thing with your paint brush and how you twirl it and ink balls come out..." As she continued on, she made imitated the motions he would do when fighting. Not as fluent, of course, but in her own cute way. The painter just laughed at her at her attempts to mimic him. "So, if you would be so kind to train me my lord? I would greatly appreciate your help."
Her eyes met his, sparkling in the night from the small flame of the lantern. Eyes he often had gotten lost in. As beautiful as the person herself.
"I would love to, my lady. But in all honesty, there's not much I could teach you. My techniques require years of diligent training. Not at all something you can just learn instantly. But then again, I don't think either of us would mind that, right?"
"Umm, no. Not at all, Lord Ma Dai," she said with a bright smile. One that seemed like it had brightened the night sky.
"So it's settled then, we should probably head back to camp. I think we've spent enough time out here." The two began to walk back towards the camp. The painter offered his arm for the women, which she gladly accepted. Which meant she effortlessly carried her mace with her other hand. Not that it affected her in the slightest. Before they reached the camp, Yinping asked, "Are you sure you would be able to rest easily now, my Lord? You still have doubts?"
"Well, I may still have them, but I need to be able to see through them. I can't afford to miss too much sleep over something I could just be overreacting to."
He was right, as much as she didn't want him to worry, he could only push his concerns to the side. "O-Okay. Just remember what I said, and thank you for your time my Lord."
She gave a quick bow before she let go of his arm and walked towards her tent. He was alone again. But there was no time to sully to himself. The biggest leg of their journey was hours away. He had to push his worries aside for now. An army is only as strong as its leading officer. Still, he couldn't help but feel pressured by the weight he carries. Especially those he cares for. He could only wish that truly nothing will happen for the next month, even if it's too much to ask for. Even then, his gut was telling him that he would be wrong.