Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors belongs to Koei. You know this, I know this, so why the heck do I put this here? Because I don't wanna get my lil' arse sued by Koei. :-P
Romance of Wu and Shu
Chapter Two: Turmoil
"My fellow soldiers, we are to fight the raging Nanmans!" shouted Sun Jian as he faced his sea of troops; thousands of the soldiers cheered joyously preparing themselves for victory. 'Most of them will die… Why are they so eager to die?' pondered Gan Ning as he stood in-between two prestigious officers, Lu Meng and Zhou Yu. "The Nanmans are powerful enemies and we must defeat Meng Huo to protect the kingdom of Wu!" More cheers arose from the crowd as they thrust their fisted arms in victory. 'They haven't even won… They're underestimating the enemy.' Flickering his eyes to Sun Jian he saw Shang Xiang standing right beside her father and Ce. Her brown eyes glistened as she stared at the soldiers willing to die for Wu. 'A pretty flower rooted into a bloody war… Why, Shang Xiang?'
Clearing his throat Sun Jian's eyes gleamed once more. "The officers for the defense against the Nanmans are my sons, Ce and Quan, Zhou Yu, Lu Meng, and Gan Ning. Prepare for a hard vigorous battle, we will defeat them!" Waving his sword into the air in circles he mounted onto his horse and headed out; the roar from the crowd got louder as they, too, prepared for the battle. Ning fixed his eyes onto the back of Sun Jian's retreating form in disbelief. He was an officer for Wu. Did he hear correctly? He shook his head and followed Lu Meng and Zhou Yu so they could be ready for the arrival of the Nanmans.
"The Nanmans are coming! The Nanmans are coming!" screamed foot soldiers as they retreated back to Gan Ning. Gan Ning sat on his horse watching their small forms come closer and closer until they came in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing? Chickening out, are you? You are to fight for Wu! What is so frightening about the enemy?" barked Gan Ning as he leered down at them from his horse giving them icy stares.
"T-T-They are riding demons! Demons from which we have never seen before! They were gigantic and fearless; crushing some men on the way, as well!" Gan Ning winced as an image of crushed tattered bodies lying on the dirt-patched floor with horrorstricken faces entered his mind.
"Are they coming towards us?" The soldiers nodded affirmatively and Ning swore under his breath. "You cowards, warn Sun Quan! He is located behind my troops. Stay there and protect the fortress where Sun Jian is in at all costs! Others, we shall rush to the enemy and engage in battle!" Sword in hand, Ning took his troops and went forward; the bells around his neck began to ring tuning out the muffled cries in the distance. 'The enemy is indeed very hard… But they will fall to the blade of Gan Ning of the bells!' Roaring he swung his sword at the hordes of savage men on the opposing side, crimson blood staining his sword.
"Lady Sun, we're surrounded by them! These huge creatures have killed most of our men!" Shang Xiang saw a gigantic creature approaching. 'What should I do? Please help me, someone! Anyone! No… I mustn't give up. I cannot give up on Wu!' Taking a deep breath she mounted onto a horse.
"We will attack! Reinforcements should be coming very soon! Archers, you must concentrate on hitting the person off the huge creature! Everyone else, we will strike the enemy troops!" With her Chakram gripped into her hands she advanced forward engaging into a vicious onslaught. "For the kingdom of Wu, we will prevail!"
"Officer Sun Quan, there is an enemy ambush in front of our post! Officer Gan Ning has engaged in battle, he has sent us to warn you!" Sun Quan's eyes dimmed and looked off into the far away distance. Sighing he slowly faced his troops.
"We are to protect the fortress where my father, Sun Jian, is at! We will wait for the enemy to come and then fight. Let us pray that Gan Ning is victorious, as well as the other officers! Preserve the kingdom of Wu!" His troops chimed in with encouraging shouts of honor; swords in their hands preparing for the enemy to come forth. After their voices died down the area was gravely silent. Spotting a fired arrow aimed at him, Sun Quan deflected it with his sword. "The enemy is here! Prepare to defend!"
A female voice laughed menacingly at the second eldest Sun son. "You pathetic man. You will never prevail against my husband's wrath! Descended from the God of Fire, himself, I am Zhu Rong! Prepare yourself, you weakling. Meng Huo, king of the Nanmans, will defeat the kingdom of Wu!" Firing blazing arrows the ground lit into crimson flames; the tall grass and trees were in disarray having been caught in turmoil.
"Keep advancing forward, we will not let my father surrender! Never!" His men rushed forward slaying Amazonian female warriors accompanying the blonde-haired fighter. The high-pitched screams resonating the vast area as their desolate bodies slumped onto the floor burning into the raging flames of battle.
Zhu Rong hissed as she watched her trained female warriors die. 'No one defies me, no one!' Riding on her elephant she crushed into the soldiers of Wu; cries of agony drowned out the roaring flames. Taking out a bow and arrow she aimed at Sun Quan. 'This time I will not miss.' Shooting the arrow it penetrated Quan's right shoulder making him fall off his horse moaning in pain. "We are to be sent out to the fortress of Wu. Sun Jian will surrender to us!"
"Our morale is dropping, Sun Jian. Sun Quan's forces have been annihilated; Gan Ning has engaged in battle with Meng Yuo; Zhou Yu and Sun Ce are battling against King Mulu and securing gate troops of the enemy." Lu Xun paused and cleared his throat. "The enemy forces are coming and our overall morale is dropping. The fog is too thick to see clearly and the climate is too hot for the soldiers. They want us to surrender." Waiting for a response the young strategist shifted his standing position.
Finally Sun Jian spoke out loud. "What about Shang Xiang?" Turning to Lu Xun his dark eyes loomed over the young man. His eyes were grave and faint wrinkles creased onto his forehead.
"I-I don't know. Forgive me." Bowing in apology the ground beneath them began to shake. "What the—" Zhu Rong appeared riding her wild elephant. Sun Jian's faithful troops guarded him as the female Amazon advanced forward.
"Prepare to surrender to my lord!" Firing burning boulders into the air the fortress began to crumble. "Burn into the sea of my flames, pathetic kingdom of Wu!" As she laughed, unbeknownst to her, Lu Xun fired a flaming arrow at her striking her arm. Zhu Rong screamed in immense pain clutching her wounded arm. "You will pay; I swear it on my very life that you will pay!" She retreated with very few of her surviving troops, many of which burned into the embers of flames.
"Lord Sun Jian, we must flee away from the fortress; the torrents of flames are too much for us to withstand. We should advance to where Quan's troops have been annihilated and then help out Ning. I am quite sure Zhou Yu and Ce are fine; if my calculations are correct they can break through a gate with those huge fiends and go to Meng Huo's fortress." Nodding in agreement the ruler of Wu listened to his quick-minded strategist. 'This man is indeed just as great as Zhuge Liang of Shu and Sima Yi of Wei.'
"Let us go then, Xun. Let us end this once and for all!" Lu Xun bowed and followed Sun Jian out of their flaming fortress.
"Officer Gan Ning, are we not too far out? The enemy seems to keep attacking us and we are short of men, we need more reinforcements!" Gan Ning winced as he felt a sword slice the side of his arm; turning to the Amazon man he pierced his sword killing the man instantly.
"We cannot turn back now, we must secure the gate and then kill the enemy! There is no other choice, we mustn't surrender!" Just then he saw a flash of short brown hair and remarkable innocent-wide brown eyes. 'Could it be…? Could it be, Shang Xiang?' "There's a force ahead of us that is in trouble! The enemy is attacking them as well! They need us as reinforcements, hurry and help them at once!" commanded Ning as he slew some more men watching their limp bodies drop onto the floor.
"They are too much… The reinforcements haven't come yet… Forgive me, father…" Blood trailed down Shang Xiang's red lips as she braced herself for the elephant's final blow. The damned creature was too powerful for her to counterattack. 'Goodbye sweet world… May Wu forever remain.' As her eyelids began to shut she heard the sounds of bells coming nearby. 'Bells…? Is this the holy sound upon entering the blissful realms of heaven…?' The ground beneath her began to tremble as the large creature was advancing, at that very moment she felt her tiny body being lifted off from the ground as if she were soaring into the infinitely high skies. The ringing of the bells was so close to her ears that she peeked open an eye; Gan Ning of the bells was carrying her in the sky. 'He finally came…' Tears sprang into her eyes as she closed them shut savoring his sweet scent of perspiration and blood mixed together.
Ning carried Shang Xiang and plunged his sword onto Meng Yuo hearing his chilling bloody scream reverberating around the battlefield. Landing to the ground he looked at the beautiful maiden sleeping in his comforting embrace. He wiped off the blood trailing down her chin and mounted on a horse. The gate was secured and the enemy officer was defeated. 'Hopefully Zhou Yu and Ce are going to defeat Meng Huo…'
… His prayers were answered for the two valiant officers defeated the king of the Nanmans thus protecting the kingdom of Wu.
… To be continued.
Author: Whoops. I didn't mean for the ending of the chapter to be short and abrupt! If I described the whole battle of the defense against the Nanmans it'd take ages… Thanks for the reviews and suggestions! ^_^ Don't worry. Liu Bei will be here soon… And is there a relationship blossoming between Gan Ning of the bells and beautiful Sun Shang Xiang? What about Liu Bei, you ask? Well. You hafta wait! Tell me what you guys and gals wanna see! More Gan Ning/Shang Xiang OR bring out Liu Bei already so you can see some Liu Bei/Shang Xiang?