Battle in the snow
***
If there are any Ryo fans out there, you might not wanna read this, hah, another warning, cause he'll well..just read!! Oh yeah, since I know some of you might be asking why Ray is blonde, it'll be answered at the end of this chapter.
***
His cold blue good eye scanned the pure white horizon. He took in deep breathes through the scarf over his face, admiring the beauty of the snow- covered majestic mountain. As he admired, he heard crunching footsteps, heavy ones, behind him come closer.
" Did you dispose the scout??" he asked, turning around to see two, tough, and scarred men, both taller than him, nod obediently. " Just flogged him on the back a lot o' times Black Devil." One of the men replied making a whipping motion. Black Devil smiled evilly. " Good work. Now, set up the troops." He ordered.
One of the men nodded once more, but one stepped forward and asked in a hoarse voice: " Y' sure they're comin' ???" he sounded doubtful of his leader.
Despite his large size, and formidable strength, he began to cower as he saw the good eye of his leader suddenly flame brightly. His cold blue eye, had become a fearsome and piercing blue. As he walked towards him, his partner, backed away, and ran away a good distance before Black Devil got near them.
The big man swallowed hard as he felt strong hands grasp his throat, and even if Black Devil was only 5'11", and he was 6'7", Black Devil managed to lift him into the air, and he dangled helplessly inches off the ground. " You dare to question my order?!?!" Black Devil demanded growling menacingly.
He gasped for air, and shook his head. " N-n-no sir, of c-course not!!" he stammered, as Black Devil tightened his throat grip. " Good." He hissed, as he slowly let go of the big man and let him collapse to the ground as a heap. The big man stood on all fours, and gasped for air, enjoying every breath he got after the near death experience.
Black Devil snorted loudly, and he turned and walked over to the spot where he admired the snow. He stared at the landscape, and whispered, almost tauntingly, " come on General.." He lifted the portion of the hood covering half of his face, and revealed that his other eye was colored white with a scar over it. " Come and face me, if you dare."
***
Ryo slung the pouch of supplies over his horse's back, and adjusted his saddle. He back away slightly, and looked at his horse. " There, I think I got all I need." He said, rather proudly as his horse was covered with pouches and a sword hilt swung loosely from his side. He nodded, and then called back at a dozen soldiers doing the same thing. " You kids ready????" he asked, loudly, for most of his troops, half of them were first-timers.
" Yes sir!!!" they all responded in chorus. He smiled, and turned only to come face to face with his retired dad. " Dad??" he asked, shocked by Shang's sudden appearance. " What're you doing here???" " Well, these two wanted to see you." Shang replied smirking as he pointed to his back as Mulan and Pei came walking towards them.
" Mom??? Pei??" he inquired as they neared him. Mulan smiled at him, and hugged him tightly. " Good luck Ryo!!!" she sniffed. " Mom!!" Ryo groaned, embarrassed by his mother. Pei only stared at them, twiddling with her fingers. Ryo broke free of his mother's embrace, and patted Pei's back. " Hey, sis, I know you're upset over Yueh's uh, you know, I'll try to make you feel better, anythin' you want after our investigation of the village??" he asked soothingly.
Pei lifted her lowered head, and glanced at her brother. " I want the head of Black Devil." She replied firmly. Ryo raised an eyebrow, and he smiled, as he boarded his horse, followed by his other men. " I'll try sis!!" he joked as he snapped his heels against his horse's sides. The horse let out a loud neigh as he galloped out of the camp, being followed by the other dozen horses. As they left, all soldiers in the army were lined up at the sides of the gate and were saluting them as the rode off.
***
The journey to the snowy mountains was long and hard.
The whole troop had to cross various forests, mostly made up of thick foliage so some of them had to set out on foot and chop down the green for the others to pass. On some occasions, they came into a village, and were being given the eye, all of them, Ryo the most, by the girls there as they bought food and drink and went back on their way. They also had to climb some mountains, and the mountains they had crossed were landslide prone, and all of them almost slipped. Also, it had often rained cats and dogs on them, and they were forced to look for shelter and continue their journey in the morning. What was worse was that a tiger or so popped up in front of them, and they were forced to slay the poor stupid beast. And their food and water supply was deteriorating.
But, despite all that, they somehow managed to make it.
" People, we are here!!!" Ryo announced to his men as he led his horse over the last muddy terrain they had to cross. Everyone joined him as they gasped, and were awed by the sight before them.
A huge and majestic mountain stood before them. It's peak was completely shrouded in mysterious mist, and it's entire surface was white with snow. Above all that, it was simply breath taking.
" Finally!!!!" the young ones said as they wiped the sweat of their brows and relaxed a bit after a long hard journey. " Hey, kids, don't get comfy yet!'' Ryo ordered glaring at them. They groaned, and straightened out grumpily. The older ones snickered at them.
" Alright men, three of you, come with me, we set out on foot." Ryo ordered, as he got off his horse, and took some of the pouches with the daggers and smoke bombs in them. The older soldiers nodded, and followed him. " The rest of you, stay here, the group might have some spies around here, I want you to stay and watch." He added, glancing at the remaining ones as they nodded obediently.
" Remember," Ryo warned as he lead the other three to the mountain. " The enemy is on this mountain before us."
***
Ryo stared around uneasily. " What the heck?!?!" he muttered softly as he observed his surrounding, which were completely covered with the same mist at the peak. " What is with this fog??" he mumbled somewhat loudly. " Well, sir, it appears to be some condensed water near the ground forming fog." One replied as he fixed his belt. " Geez, thank you for that EDUCATIONAL moment Wong." Ryo muttered as he climbed on.
They continued walking, ignoring the fog before them, and listened to one soldier, Tan, as he read out loud the instructions to the village. 20 minutes had already passed.
" Tan, are we there yet??" Ryo called as he looked back, and saw Tan scratch his helmet. " Sir, uh, according to the map, the village should be right here." he mumbled. His three comrades stared at him. " Here?? There isn't anything here Tan!!!" Wong exclaimed flailing his arms.
" Impossible!!!" Tang remarked, staring at the piece of parchment in his hands. " I got this from the girl that is married to the guy who's brother works at a bar in Beijing and is the uncle of a girl who's sister is the best friend of the niece of the guy who sells pets in Shanghai who in turn is the father of the guy who's cousin's uncle's sister's best friend's half brother is a guide on this mountain!!!" he protested saying all this quite fast.
His fellow soldiers stared at him. Tang shrugged. " Hey, I know a lot of people, what can I say, I'm a very sociable person." He replied grinning. " Oh brother!" Wong sighed. " General Ryo, can you..."
" SHHH!!!!" Ryo hissed, as he lowered his hand slightly, signaling the three of his men to stop talking. They obeyed him, and also crouched down for he began to do so. Tang tucked the map into his knapsack, and scooted over to Ryo's side. " What is it sir??" he whispered.
He looked at Ryo, and noticed gleaming suspicion and intensity glowing in his eyes. " Shh Tang, do you hear that?" he whispered. Tang silenced, and listened to his environment, ignoring the mist covering his eyes. He listened, carefully, and concentrated. He listened, nothing..
Then, he heard something snap.
Ryo was in his element. " AMBUSH!!!!!!" he yelled, as he jumped up and unsheathed his sword. The other soldiers panicked, but soon gained control over their terror, and also unsheathed their swords. They all ran to Ryo's side, and joined him in his battle stance.
They could then hear some battle cries somewhere near, somewhere in the mist, and their hearts beat fast. They knew it was the gang, and the village was burned down, they did it. " What are you doing here?!?!" Ryo hissed through gritted teeth as he glared at Wong. " Sir, we're joining you for battle!!!" he replied, tightening the grip on his sword. They could hear the gang's footsteps, thundering, as they got closer.
" Get out of here!!!" he ordered. All three men stared at him. " Sir?? We can't abandon you!!!" Tang replied firmly. Ryo threw a flaming glare at him, and he shut up. " You can always replace me, but you can never replace fine soldiers like all of you!!" he replied angrily. " Sir, we could never replace you!!!" Wong protested shakily. " Are you questioning my orders??" Ryo demanded fiercely. Wong and Tang and their companion, Shu, stared at each other. " N-no sir.." they mumbled, lowering their swords.
" Then, get the heck outta here!!" he ordered roughly. The three soldiers, nodded obediently as they returned their swords, and turned and ran. " Sir, we'll come back for you." Tang reassured as he joined his companions as they disappeared into the mist.
Ryo smiled, momentarily, but when he heard the footsteps come to a sudden halt, he grimaced, and tightened his guard. He stared at the white mist, and closed his eyes to concentrate on his hearing. Seconds later, he opened his eyes, and swiftly turned around, and slashed a huge man across the chest and let some blood lose. He let out a scream as he collapsed on the snowy ground, and clutched his bleeding chest.
Ryo raised an eyebrow, as he turned around again and stopped a man from chopping him up with his axe using his sword as a shield. He growled, as he kicked the man in his stomach and watched him fall down with a loud oof!!! He relaxed a bit, but not before he saw more men emerging from the mist, glaring at him, obviously the comrades of the men he hurt.
He sighed, knowing he was outnumbered, and he ran. " Why me??" he moaned as he watched some arrows sail past his face and disappear into the mist. He continued running, as he heard the men roaring and thundering behind him.
Ryo ran, until he heard the men suddenly stop. He too stopped, and stared at the men, as they watched him, and clenched their weapons tightly.
He gasped, as he saw a black figure emerge from the crowd of men. " Black Devil." he whispered, awed and shocked by the appearance of the horrible villain. Black Devil ignored the stares at him, and simply approached Ryo, until he was a few inches from him. Ryo glared at him.
" You." he spat. " Me." Black Devil replied calmly. " The Black Devil." Ryo didn't answer, instead, he positioned himself to strike the Black Devil. Black Devil noticed him do so, and he tsked. " General Ryo, would do you such a daring action when I have someone you know??" he sneered.
Ryo stared at his cold eye. " Who??" he asked, snarling.
" Oh, how about an annoying little kid who hurt most of my men on a rainy night at a certain village." Ryo was taken aback, he was simply shocked. " Yueh?" " So he calls himself." Black Devil replied shrugging. Ryo glared at him, even fiercer than the one before. " Where is he???" he demanded. Black Devil's eye suddenly glittered sinisterly. " That you'll never find out." He hissed, as he reached out a gloved hand, and pushed Ryo backward with great force.
Ryo tumbled backwards, fought to regain balance when he realized he was over a cliff. But, he just couldn't...He screamed, as he slipped off the slippery ice edge, and began to fall..
Black Devil was smirking under his scarf, and motioned to one of men to come to him. " Que, write a letter to the emperor, and tell him, that we have the general in our hands." Que smiled, and nodded.
TBC
***
Okay, some of you are asking, why is Ray blonde?? Well, I literally had to pry the answer out of him, and this is what he said:
He actually isn't Chinese, although he has some blood, but not totally. He is in fact, European, like Jacques. He was born to an English family, and was raised in luxury until he was five. One day though, fate had struck. Some escaped psychopaths murdered his family, and only he survived. However, he had an uncle who willingly took him in and called him as his own. The uncle then moved to China, six years after he took in Ray. And Ray eventually adapted to the Chinese way of living, and changed his original name, to a Chinese one. And when he turned 15, he ran away to join the army.
Ray told me his life story when he was only supposed to tell me why he was blonde!!!! The reason he's blonde is because he ain't Chinese, he's a foreigner. Oh yeah, his real name, is: Reynolds Morceau. ^.^
***
***
If there are any Ryo fans out there, you might not wanna read this, hah, another warning, cause he'll well..just read!! Oh yeah, since I know some of you might be asking why Ray is blonde, it'll be answered at the end of this chapter.
***
His cold blue good eye scanned the pure white horizon. He took in deep breathes through the scarf over his face, admiring the beauty of the snow- covered majestic mountain. As he admired, he heard crunching footsteps, heavy ones, behind him come closer.
" Did you dispose the scout??" he asked, turning around to see two, tough, and scarred men, both taller than him, nod obediently. " Just flogged him on the back a lot o' times Black Devil." One of the men replied making a whipping motion. Black Devil smiled evilly. " Good work. Now, set up the troops." He ordered.
One of the men nodded once more, but one stepped forward and asked in a hoarse voice: " Y' sure they're comin' ???" he sounded doubtful of his leader.
Despite his large size, and formidable strength, he began to cower as he saw the good eye of his leader suddenly flame brightly. His cold blue eye, had become a fearsome and piercing blue. As he walked towards him, his partner, backed away, and ran away a good distance before Black Devil got near them.
The big man swallowed hard as he felt strong hands grasp his throat, and even if Black Devil was only 5'11", and he was 6'7", Black Devil managed to lift him into the air, and he dangled helplessly inches off the ground. " You dare to question my order?!?!" Black Devil demanded growling menacingly.
He gasped for air, and shook his head. " N-n-no sir, of c-course not!!" he stammered, as Black Devil tightened his throat grip. " Good." He hissed, as he slowly let go of the big man and let him collapse to the ground as a heap. The big man stood on all fours, and gasped for air, enjoying every breath he got after the near death experience.
Black Devil snorted loudly, and he turned and walked over to the spot where he admired the snow. He stared at the landscape, and whispered, almost tauntingly, " come on General.." He lifted the portion of the hood covering half of his face, and revealed that his other eye was colored white with a scar over it. " Come and face me, if you dare."
***
Ryo slung the pouch of supplies over his horse's back, and adjusted his saddle. He back away slightly, and looked at his horse. " There, I think I got all I need." He said, rather proudly as his horse was covered with pouches and a sword hilt swung loosely from his side. He nodded, and then called back at a dozen soldiers doing the same thing. " You kids ready????" he asked, loudly, for most of his troops, half of them were first-timers.
" Yes sir!!!" they all responded in chorus. He smiled, and turned only to come face to face with his retired dad. " Dad??" he asked, shocked by Shang's sudden appearance. " What're you doing here???" " Well, these two wanted to see you." Shang replied smirking as he pointed to his back as Mulan and Pei came walking towards them.
" Mom??? Pei??" he inquired as they neared him. Mulan smiled at him, and hugged him tightly. " Good luck Ryo!!!" she sniffed. " Mom!!" Ryo groaned, embarrassed by his mother. Pei only stared at them, twiddling with her fingers. Ryo broke free of his mother's embrace, and patted Pei's back. " Hey, sis, I know you're upset over Yueh's uh, you know, I'll try to make you feel better, anythin' you want after our investigation of the village??" he asked soothingly.
Pei lifted her lowered head, and glanced at her brother. " I want the head of Black Devil." She replied firmly. Ryo raised an eyebrow, and he smiled, as he boarded his horse, followed by his other men. " I'll try sis!!" he joked as he snapped his heels against his horse's sides. The horse let out a loud neigh as he galloped out of the camp, being followed by the other dozen horses. As they left, all soldiers in the army were lined up at the sides of the gate and were saluting them as the rode off.
***
The journey to the snowy mountains was long and hard.
The whole troop had to cross various forests, mostly made up of thick foliage so some of them had to set out on foot and chop down the green for the others to pass. On some occasions, they came into a village, and were being given the eye, all of them, Ryo the most, by the girls there as they bought food and drink and went back on their way. They also had to climb some mountains, and the mountains they had crossed were landslide prone, and all of them almost slipped. Also, it had often rained cats and dogs on them, and they were forced to look for shelter and continue their journey in the morning. What was worse was that a tiger or so popped up in front of them, and they were forced to slay the poor stupid beast. And their food and water supply was deteriorating.
But, despite all that, they somehow managed to make it.
" People, we are here!!!" Ryo announced to his men as he led his horse over the last muddy terrain they had to cross. Everyone joined him as they gasped, and were awed by the sight before them.
A huge and majestic mountain stood before them. It's peak was completely shrouded in mysterious mist, and it's entire surface was white with snow. Above all that, it was simply breath taking.
" Finally!!!!" the young ones said as they wiped the sweat of their brows and relaxed a bit after a long hard journey. " Hey, kids, don't get comfy yet!'' Ryo ordered glaring at them. They groaned, and straightened out grumpily. The older ones snickered at them.
" Alright men, three of you, come with me, we set out on foot." Ryo ordered, as he got off his horse, and took some of the pouches with the daggers and smoke bombs in them. The older soldiers nodded, and followed him. " The rest of you, stay here, the group might have some spies around here, I want you to stay and watch." He added, glancing at the remaining ones as they nodded obediently.
" Remember," Ryo warned as he lead the other three to the mountain. " The enemy is on this mountain before us."
***
Ryo stared around uneasily. " What the heck?!?!" he muttered softly as he observed his surrounding, which were completely covered with the same mist at the peak. " What is with this fog??" he mumbled somewhat loudly. " Well, sir, it appears to be some condensed water near the ground forming fog." One replied as he fixed his belt. " Geez, thank you for that EDUCATIONAL moment Wong." Ryo muttered as he climbed on.
They continued walking, ignoring the fog before them, and listened to one soldier, Tan, as he read out loud the instructions to the village. 20 minutes had already passed.
" Tan, are we there yet??" Ryo called as he looked back, and saw Tan scratch his helmet. " Sir, uh, according to the map, the village should be right here." he mumbled. His three comrades stared at him. " Here?? There isn't anything here Tan!!!" Wong exclaimed flailing his arms.
" Impossible!!!" Tang remarked, staring at the piece of parchment in his hands. " I got this from the girl that is married to the guy who's brother works at a bar in Beijing and is the uncle of a girl who's sister is the best friend of the niece of the guy who sells pets in Shanghai who in turn is the father of the guy who's cousin's uncle's sister's best friend's half brother is a guide on this mountain!!!" he protested saying all this quite fast.
His fellow soldiers stared at him. Tang shrugged. " Hey, I know a lot of people, what can I say, I'm a very sociable person." He replied grinning. " Oh brother!" Wong sighed. " General Ryo, can you..."
" SHHH!!!!" Ryo hissed, as he lowered his hand slightly, signaling the three of his men to stop talking. They obeyed him, and also crouched down for he began to do so. Tang tucked the map into his knapsack, and scooted over to Ryo's side. " What is it sir??" he whispered.
He looked at Ryo, and noticed gleaming suspicion and intensity glowing in his eyes. " Shh Tang, do you hear that?" he whispered. Tang silenced, and listened to his environment, ignoring the mist covering his eyes. He listened, carefully, and concentrated. He listened, nothing..
Then, he heard something snap.
Ryo was in his element. " AMBUSH!!!!!!" he yelled, as he jumped up and unsheathed his sword. The other soldiers panicked, but soon gained control over their terror, and also unsheathed their swords. They all ran to Ryo's side, and joined him in his battle stance.
They could then hear some battle cries somewhere near, somewhere in the mist, and their hearts beat fast. They knew it was the gang, and the village was burned down, they did it. " What are you doing here?!?!" Ryo hissed through gritted teeth as he glared at Wong. " Sir, we're joining you for battle!!!" he replied, tightening the grip on his sword. They could hear the gang's footsteps, thundering, as they got closer.
" Get out of here!!!" he ordered. All three men stared at him. " Sir?? We can't abandon you!!!" Tang replied firmly. Ryo threw a flaming glare at him, and he shut up. " You can always replace me, but you can never replace fine soldiers like all of you!!" he replied angrily. " Sir, we could never replace you!!!" Wong protested shakily. " Are you questioning my orders??" Ryo demanded fiercely. Wong and Tang and their companion, Shu, stared at each other. " N-no sir.." they mumbled, lowering their swords.
" Then, get the heck outta here!!" he ordered roughly. The three soldiers, nodded obediently as they returned their swords, and turned and ran. " Sir, we'll come back for you." Tang reassured as he joined his companions as they disappeared into the mist.
Ryo smiled, momentarily, but when he heard the footsteps come to a sudden halt, he grimaced, and tightened his guard. He stared at the white mist, and closed his eyes to concentrate on his hearing. Seconds later, he opened his eyes, and swiftly turned around, and slashed a huge man across the chest and let some blood lose. He let out a scream as he collapsed on the snowy ground, and clutched his bleeding chest.
Ryo raised an eyebrow, as he turned around again and stopped a man from chopping him up with his axe using his sword as a shield. He growled, as he kicked the man in his stomach and watched him fall down with a loud oof!!! He relaxed a bit, but not before he saw more men emerging from the mist, glaring at him, obviously the comrades of the men he hurt.
He sighed, knowing he was outnumbered, and he ran. " Why me??" he moaned as he watched some arrows sail past his face and disappear into the mist. He continued running, as he heard the men roaring and thundering behind him.
Ryo ran, until he heard the men suddenly stop. He too stopped, and stared at the men, as they watched him, and clenched their weapons tightly.
He gasped, as he saw a black figure emerge from the crowd of men. " Black Devil." he whispered, awed and shocked by the appearance of the horrible villain. Black Devil ignored the stares at him, and simply approached Ryo, until he was a few inches from him. Ryo glared at him.
" You." he spat. " Me." Black Devil replied calmly. " The Black Devil." Ryo didn't answer, instead, he positioned himself to strike the Black Devil. Black Devil noticed him do so, and he tsked. " General Ryo, would do you such a daring action when I have someone you know??" he sneered.
Ryo stared at his cold eye. " Who??" he asked, snarling.
" Oh, how about an annoying little kid who hurt most of my men on a rainy night at a certain village." Ryo was taken aback, he was simply shocked. " Yueh?" " So he calls himself." Black Devil replied shrugging. Ryo glared at him, even fiercer than the one before. " Where is he???" he demanded. Black Devil's eye suddenly glittered sinisterly. " That you'll never find out." He hissed, as he reached out a gloved hand, and pushed Ryo backward with great force.
Ryo tumbled backwards, fought to regain balance when he realized he was over a cliff. But, he just couldn't...He screamed, as he slipped off the slippery ice edge, and began to fall..
Black Devil was smirking under his scarf, and motioned to one of men to come to him. " Que, write a letter to the emperor, and tell him, that we have the general in our hands." Que smiled, and nodded.
TBC
***
Okay, some of you are asking, why is Ray blonde?? Well, I literally had to pry the answer out of him, and this is what he said:
He actually isn't Chinese, although he has some blood, but not totally. He is in fact, European, like Jacques. He was born to an English family, and was raised in luxury until he was five. One day though, fate had struck. Some escaped psychopaths murdered his family, and only he survived. However, he had an uncle who willingly took him in and called him as his own. The uncle then moved to China, six years after he took in Ray. And Ray eventually adapted to the Chinese way of living, and changed his original name, to a Chinese one. And when he turned 15, he ran away to join the army.
Ray told me his life story when he was only supposed to tell me why he was blonde!!!! The reason he's blonde is because he ain't Chinese, he's a foreigner. Oh yeah, his real name, is: Reynolds Morceau. ^.^
***