Author's Note: OH NYOOOOO ^_^!! Thank you everyone who reviewed, I love you
all *Huggles them* I love it when you review; I want to know what you think! Also, to Athena, When I write the story it isn't n one huge block of text, but when I post it, that's what happens. I trying to figure out how to fix this problem A.S.A.P. so bear with me plz! I want suggestions, comments, questions, and complaints so pleeeease review, my darling little readers (I love all you ppl who read this story, it makes me feel special
inside : ) ) Domo arigatou!
Part 1
The Rise of the Stars
Chapter 6
Rubies
The next day the all awoke, drowsy and stiff to start the next day of marching. Sun Shang Xiang was puffy eyed and droopy, and she could barley get onto the horse. After they set out, she kept falling asleep and let her head fall onto Sun Ce's or Zhang He's shoulder a number of times. Finally, Sun Ce had had enough. "WAKE UP SIS!!!" He yelled into her ear. She sat up bolt right and rubbed her ear. "Alright, alright, already.don't have to be so mean." She said. Zhang He spied Sun Quan leering in his direction from the bouncing cart, and in some secret part of his soul wished that Sun Quan would fall off. His ape-like complexion turned to scowl at his siblings, then Zhou Yu. He then withdrew himself inside the cart and disappeared. Zhang He yawned loudly and considered what would happen if he would just nod off for a second. Got to keep awake he thought. He looked up towards the pale sky and felt the cool morning breeze in his hair. Dead leaves lined the road and danced down through the air. For three whole weeks they would have to get up this early. "I'm still sore from yesterday." Sun Ce complained, rubbing the inside of his legs "Tomorrow, I'll bet my legs have already fallen off." "Stop complaining, Sun Ce, it is very annoying." Zhou Yu said drowsily. "Aww, come on Zhou Yu, you're complaining in your head to, right now, aren't you? I just like my opinions voiced!" Sun Ce said. "We know very well that you do." Zhou Yu said, chuckling a little. "Are you saying I talk too much?" Sun Ce said, mildly offended. "No, I'm saying that sometimes it is wise not to be shouting everything that crosses your mind to the world." Zhou Yu said looking at a moth that was late to getting home. "Ok, Confucius, you win." Sun Ce said to Zhou Yu. Not much else happened for a while. The sun rose to the sky, but the temperature stayed as about 70 degrees. The sweet smell of autumn hung above the fields in which they were riding. Fat red berries hung of the bushes, apples decorated trees like balls of shiny glass, and horses grazed in the tall grass, searching for a bit of fruit somebody had perhaps overlooked. The trees leaves had turned to hues of spectacular gold, burnt orange, and sunset red and twirled to the ground where they crunched merrily under the horses ever moving hooves. After what seemed a countless number of hours, the sun began its routine decent to where ever it resided at night. Zhang He often wondered about the heavens and how they worked. It often puzzled him to think what the sun was actually made of, how did it burn endlessly, and what made it move? The stars twinkled into view and the moon peeked out from behind them. Thoughts and hopes of setting up camp filled everyone's minds. Every once in a while Yuan Shao looked as though he would give in and give the word for everyone to rest, but he never did. "Ohhhh, when are we going to stop, I'm bored." Sun Shang Xiang whined. "Don't worry, It'll be soon" Zhang He said breathily. "I sure hope so." Sun Shang Xiang said, patting the horse's head. "My horse is going to fall down before I do!" After about 30 minutes, everyone was finally allowed to dismount and tents were set up. "Ahhhh, man, I'm so tired." Sun Ce whined. "Come on, Zhou Yu, let's find a tent before everyone takes them for themselves. You coming, Zhang He?" "No, I'll join you later, perhaps." As he saw Sima Yi, sitting by himself reading once again. He walked over and sat next to him. "How's it going?" He said. "Alright, I suppose." Sima Yi said "I'm not feeling my best health wise.What about yourself, how are you?" Sima Yi said, looking up from his book. "I'm just great, if not a little tired from the trip." Zhang He said. He peered over at the book in Sima Yi's lap. "Is that one any good?" "This book? Well, I find some of it quite stupid. It's composed of different peoples theories on the heavens. Can you believe those idiots from England? They actually believed the world was flat!" He said smiling in disbelief "How stupid can you get?" "Please, tell me more, I'm very interested in that sort of thing!" Zhang He said, eager to have some of his age-old questions answered. "If you want, I didn't think anybody really liked that stuff, well, besides me.Ok, so anyway, as well all know the world is round, but, contrary to Europe's idiotic ravings, we are most definitely not the center of the universe. Our planet is part of a system of eight planets that all revolve around the sun, and the reason that we see the moon and sun go down, is because the Earth is spinning as well. So we've learned we're just one small rock in the middle of one really, really, really, big solar system, all centering around, the Sun, while Europe is still happy with their insane Heliocentric theory." Sima Yi explained. "What exactly is the sun?" Zhang He inquired. "Well, It is believed to actually be a star, just like those ones" He said pointing upwards. "Only closer." "That stuff is really interesting." Said Zhang He looking at the sky. "What do you say we get some sleep now? My friends have got a their own tent over here." "Umm, well, I'm not really sure they'd want me, I mean I'll just be in the way and-" Sima Yi said, focusing on his fingers. "Nonsense, come on." Zhang He said pulling Sima Yi beside him. Zhang He located the tent and poked his head inside. "Sun Ce?" Zhang He whispered. "What?" He said sitting up. "Is there room for one more person besides me?" Zhang He asked. "There's room for like eight more, I scared everyone away so we could have it to ourselves!" Sun Ce bragged. "It's not my little sister is it? That's not right to have a girl in our tent!" "No, this is my friend, Sima Yi." He said yanking him through the door. "I'm s-sorry." Sima Yi mumbled to Sun Ce. "So you can talk! Come on, your not a bother to us, make yourself at home!" Sun Ce said, lying back down. Zhang He found a place on the floor next to Zhou Yu and lie down. Sima Yi went over to the far corner and removed his hat and hair bun, letting his dark hair fall down to the middle of his back. Zhang He listened to Zhou Yu's soft rhythmic breathing and closed his eyes. He tried to fall asleep, but he had always been stricken with insomnia. He lay awake, listening to the insects, night birds, and sounds of the autumn wind. Zhou Yu often opened his eyes sat up for a moment, and then went right back to sleep and Sun Ce was snoring a little. He would also have a tendency to thrash around and smack Zhou Yu with his arms. After what felt like an hour, everything went quiet. The insects calmed down and Zhou Yu had committed to his sleep. Just as Zhang He was beginning to slip away, he heard a horrible hacking cough from the corner. The coughing increased and the person began to sputter. Zhang He sat up and saw Sima Yi trying to get up and leave through the vicious coughs. He stood up and drunkenly fell outside. Zhang He stood up and went to assist him. Outside, Sima Yi lay on the ground, with his hand over his mouth, still hacking away. Zhang he bent down beside him and saw that Sima Yi's hand was covered in blood. He was shivering and tears were streaming from his eyes. He sat up and spit more blood onto the ground. "Sima Yi? Are you alright?" Zhang He said very worried. "I-I'm fine." He said, hands shaking vigorously. "That just happens sometimes.I just coughed so much it cut my throat a little, nothing to worry about." He tried to get up but fell over again. "Here." Zhang He said, helping him inside. "T-thank you." Sima Yi said. He went back to the corner fell asleep immediately. Zhang He resumed his position near Zhou Yu and also fell asleep fairly quick. When they awoke, Sima Yi had already left. "Wonder why he was so scared of us." Sun Ce said preparing his hair. "He's just shy, I'm sure he'll be better after you guys get to know him. He's really smart, I'm sure he'll become a strategist." Zhang He said. "He's seems like he would be a good addition to our group, let's try and "recruit" him." Sun Ce said standing up. "We'd better hurry, their planning to leave at any moment." Zhou Yu said, looking at the line of horses. They walked over and mounted their three usual horses and mounted. The pulled back and waited to catch up to Sima Yi. "Uh, hello." He said when they approached. "Hey! We decided to ride near you today, and you can't hear Dian Wei make that weird noise from back here!" Sun Ce said. Zhou Yu and Zhang He laughed at this. Dian Wei would rarely speak, but instead he would make an odd "Rrrrei!" noise. They continued to talk among themselves for a while until Sun Shang Xiang rode up. "There you guys are! I was looking all over for y-" She stopped when she saw Sima Yi with them. She opened her eyes wider and her cheeks flushed pink. "I-I've got go now!" She said turning around and heading back towards the front. "Wonder what's up with her..." Sun Ce said, "Sis usually loves to talk with us, she's a bit of a tomboy."
After about a week, Sima Yi was considered one of them. The four of them never separated throughout the journey. He no longer was shy and untrusting with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, but seemed quite happy, as if this was the very first time he had been accepted into a group of friends. They saw less and less of Sun Shang Xiang, she always seemed to be ducking out of their sight and avoiding them. "What is wrong with sis?" Sun Ce said after the fifth time she had run away from them. "It's not like we have some horrible infectious disease or something." "She seems like a nice girl." Sima Yi said, looking off in the direction she had run off in. "She really is, look what she gave me!" Zhang He said, showing off the pretty little ocarina. "Hey, I gave her that as a birthday gift once." Sun Ce said, "She just gave it away!?" "I can play that." Said Zhou Yu "Here, give it a try, I'm no good at it." Zhang He said, handing it to Zhou Yu. He took his hands off the reigns and held the ocarina delicately in his pale hands. He played a slow and mournful tune. His fingers moved with speed and expertise across the small instrument. The entire song came out beautiful and flawless. He lowered the ocarina from his soft pink lips and smiled. "I didn't know you could play that well, Zhou Yu." Said Sun Ce. "I've been playing the ocarina since I was about seven years old, Of course I can play like that." Zhou Yu said. "Can you write music?" Zhang He asked. "Yes" He answered. "Can you figure this song out and write it down for me?" Zhang He said and whistled the tune. "I know that song, it's called 'Kaze no Mori', Its Japanese. See, I'll play it." And he did so. "I'll write it down for you tonight." Handing the ocarina back to its owner. Later on in the day, Zhang He decided to go and visit Sun Shang Xiang on his own. "I'm going to ride up on ahead for a while, I'll be right back," He said. He pushed his way through the many horses and carts until he located the red haired girl. "Hey! You came to see me!" She said gleefully. "Yes, I've been wondering why you haven't rode with us these past few days." Zhang He said. "Well. It's.Sima Yi." She said, looking the horses. "You don't like him?" Zhang He said in disbelief. "Oh, no, no, no, it's not that, no that at all!" She said hurriedly. "Then what is it?" Zhang He asked loudly. "It's just, well.never mind, you won't understand. How have you been?" She said, hastily changing the subject. "Any why wouldn't I understand?" Zhang He teased. "You just wouldn't!" She shrieked playfully. "Ooooh, you're blushing." Zhang He pointed out. "I am not, leave me alone!" She said, turning away. "I think I know what's going on." Zhang He said smiling. "Well, you're obviously quite mistaken, because nothing is going on!" Sun Shang Xiang said in a matter-of-fact voice. "If you say so." He said, turning his horse around. "I'll see you later."
Later that night, Zhou Yu handed a rolled up sheet of paper to Zhang He. "Thanks a lot, Zhou Yu, I'll be able to use this a lot." Zhang He said. "It was nothing, I could of done it in my sleep." Zhou Yu smiled. "I'll be right back, my sure to save me a spot in the tent tonight." Zhang He said scheming. He had thought a lot about his conversation with Sun Shang Xiang today, and he wanted to test something. He copied down the notes on a separate sheet of paper so he could learn them himself, and then set out to find Sima Yi. He was in the tent, reading a book, while Sun Ce and Zhou Yu argued. "Sima Yi, can you do me a favor?" He asked politely. "Sure, alright, what's the task?" Sima Yi said, spying the rolled up paper in Zhang He's hand. "I want you to take this to Sun Shang Xiang, will you tell her it's the music for my song?" Zhang He requested, holding out the tube of paper. "Sure." said Sima Yi "But why can't you do it, she's right over there." "Because you have to do it," Zhang He said giving his and encouraging push "Don't be shy now." Sima Yi glided over to where Sun Shang Xiang was sitting and drawing. "Umm, Miss?" Sima Yi said, trying to get her attention. She looked up and gasped. "Y-yes?" She said standing up. "Zhang He wanted me to give this to you." He said, holding out the document. She took the paper with a quivering hand and unrolled it. "He said it was the music to his song, that you wanted it." Said Sima Yi; nervous to be talking to someone he didn't really know. "W-w-well tell him I s-said thanks, and, uh thank you, too!" She said making her escape. Sima Yi stood there for a moment then walked back to Zhang He. "I don't think she likes me very much." He said when he got back. "Well, I don't know about that." Said Zhang He smiling. As they were walking back to the tent Zhang He heard horses hooves in the distance. "An approaching rider?" He said. "Maybe it's a Yellow Turban spy." Sima Yi suggested. The hooves got closer and closer then they stopped. They heard footsteps approaching quickly and got on their guard. Then, out of the darkness, came a woman running at full speed towards them. "ZHANG HE!!!" She yelled and threw her arms around. He then realized it was Rai Tso, and he patted her awkwardly on the head. "You.know her?" Sima Yi said. "He'd better not have forgotten me!" She said letting go "I thought I'd never see you again!" "What happened to you? I heard you were injured." Zhang He said. "Some bastard Yellow Turban shot me twice in the shoulder with his bow. I thought I was done for, but Cao Cao has some great medics on his side!" Rai Tso explained. "Well, I'm glad your ok. I was worried you wouldn't be here for the battle!" Zhang He said, hand on the back of his head. "And miss seeing you ride with Yuan Shao? I just have to be there! Who's this you've met?" She said, gesturing to Sima Yi. "This is my friend, Sima Yi, He's a genius!" Zhang He said. "Oh, I know you, you were the one being yelled at the day I arrived, what did you do to make your father so mad?" "I was.reading a fiction book, he doesn't approve of those." He said, looking guilty. "Whoa.that's harsh." She said. "Well, you two better get to bed, time for me to report to Yuan Shao. See you in the morrow." The boys walked back to the tent and lay down next to Zhou Yu and Sun Ce and fell asleep. The next couple of weeks passed fairly quickly with Rai Tso. She would drop by on the riding party occasionally and talk about things with them. She also got to know Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Sima Yi better, and they all agreed she was the perfect mother figure. After many boring days of riding the horse over and over, Zhang He took to practicing with his ocarina. He was getting a lot better and could almost play 'Kaze no Mori' without looking at the music. After a while the luscious fields of grass and farmland turned dry and rocky. They were tracking through a jagged mountain range. Barley any animals or birds lived here and no grass grew at all. Once, they passed by a blind man living in a clay hut by the side of the mountain who went crazy with fear at the sound of hooves. He scrambled inside his house, yelling about the Yellow Turbans. Then often went by precarious looking ridges that were so narrow, only one horse could pass at a time. Below the crumbling cliffs was foot upon foot of white mist, ever changing and mysterious. "This place is very weird." Zhang He said to Rai Tso and she laughed. "Welcome to the lovely Guan Du province!" She said sarcastically After about two more days snow began to fall, dampening their spirits and slowing them down. Autumn was slowly dying away and winter was taking its turn. "Ohh, man, we're gonna show the Yellow Turbans! Those cry babies will scream and run away when we show up. I bet I can kill more than you can, Zhang He!" Sun Ce challenged. "I'll take you up on that bet! My Talons are aching for a fight!" Zhang He said. "Don't brag Sun Ce, I seem to recall a battle not long ago where you were crying for your mother running as fast as you could from a general." Zhou Yu said smiling. "Be quiet! Shut up you guys!" Sun Ce said trying to quell their laughter. That night, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, Sun Jian and Sima Xu all agreed that this was the spot where the main camp should be set up. The men worked all night setting up all the tents they had, and everyone at a large meal for the coming battle. All the generals and strategists went of plans and made last minute changes. They all tried, but neither Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Zhang He, or Sima Yi could get very much sleep that night. In the morning, they all woke at the crack of dawn and dressed in their armor. They practiced just a bit with their weapons then mounted their horses. Everyone set out led by Yuan Shao and Sun Jian. After about twenty minutes they reached the slope that led down to the Yellow Turban stronghold. They all gazed to and prepared themselves for whatever would happen next. "Today." Yuan Shao said turning back to face everyone, "The Yellow Turbans die!!!" An almighty cheer rang through canyon and thousands of feet and hooves charged down the canyon.
all *Huggles them* I love it when you review; I want to know what you think! Also, to Athena, When I write the story it isn't n one huge block of text, but when I post it, that's what happens. I trying to figure out how to fix this problem A.S.A.P. so bear with me plz! I want suggestions, comments, questions, and complaints so pleeeease review, my darling little readers (I love all you ppl who read this story, it makes me feel special
inside : ) ) Domo arigatou!
Part 1
The Rise of the Stars
Chapter 6
Rubies
The next day the all awoke, drowsy and stiff to start the next day of marching. Sun Shang Xiang was puffy eyed and droopy, and she could barley get onto the horse. After they set out, she kept falling asleep and let her head fall onto Sun Ce's or Zhang He's shoulder a number of times. Finally, Sun Ce had had enough. "WAKE UP SIS!!!" He yelled into her ear. She sat up bolt right and rubbed her ear. "Alright, alright, already.don't have to be so mean." She said. Zhang He spied Sun Quan leering in his direction from the bouncing cart, and in some secret part of his soul wished that Sun Quan would fall off. His ape-like complexion turned to scowl at his siblings, then Zhou Yu. He then withdrew himself inside the cart and disappeared. Zhang He yawned loudly and considered what would happen if he would just nod off for a second. Got to keep awake he thought. He looked up towards the pale sky and felt the cool morning breeze in his hair. Dead leaves lined the road and danced down through the air. For three whole weeks they would have to get up this early. "I'm still sore from yesterday." Sun Ce complained, rubbing the inside of his legs "Tomorrow, I'll bet my legs have already fallen off." "Stop complaining, Sun Ce, it is very annoying." Zhou Yu said drowsily. "Aww, come on Zhou Yu, you're complaining in your head to, right now, aren't you? I just like my opinions voiced!" Sun Ce said. "We know very well that you do." Zhou Yu said, chuckling a little. "Are you saying I talk too much?" Sun Ce said, mildly offended. "No, I'm saying that sometimes it is wise not to be shouting everything that crosses your mind to the world." Zhou Yu said looking at a moth that was late to getting home. "Ok, Confucius, you win." Sun Ce said to Zhou Yu. Not much else happened for a while. The sun rose to the sky, but the temperature stayed as about 70 degrees. The sweet smell of autumn hung above the fields in which they were riding. Fat red berries hung of the bushes, apples decorated trees like balls of shiny glass, and horses grazed in the tall grass, searching for a bit of fruit somebody had perhaps overlooked. The trees leaves had turned to hues of spectacular gold, burnt orange, and sunset red and twirled to the ground where they crunched merrily under the horses ever moving hooves. After what seemed a countless number of hours, the sun began its routine decent to where ever it resided at night. Zhang He often wondered about the heavens and how they worked. It often puzzled him to think what the sun was actually made of, how did it burn endlessly, and what made it move? The stars twinkled into view and the moon peeked out from behind them. Thoughts and hopes of setting up camp filled everyone's minds. Every once in a while Yuan Shao looked as though he would give in and give the word for everyone to rest, but he never did. "Ohhhh, when are we going to stop, I'm bored." Sun Shang Xiang whined. "Don't worry, It'll be soon" Zhang He said breathily. "I sure hope so." Sun Shang Xiang said, patting the horse's head. "My horse is going to fall down before I do!" After about 30 minutes, everyone was finally allowed to dismount and tents were set up. "Ahhhh, man, I'm so tired." Sun Ce whined. "Come on, Zhou Yu, let's find a tent before everyone takes them for themselves. You coming, Zhang He?" "No, I'll join you later, perhaps." As he saw Sima Yi, sitting by himself reading once again. He walked over and sat next to him. "How's it going?" He said. "Alright, I suppose." Sima Yi said "I'm not feeling my best health wise.What about yourself, how are you?" Sima Yi said, looking up from his book. "I'm just great, if not a little tired from the trip." Zhang He said. He peered over at the book in Sima Yi's lap. "Is that one any good?" "This book? Well, I find some of it quite stupid. It's composed of different peoples theories on the heavens. Can you believe those idiots from England? They actually believed the world was flat!" He said smiling in disbelief "How stupid can you get?" "Please, tell me more, I'm very interested in that sort of thing!" Zhang He said, eager to have some of his age-old questions answered. "If you want, I didn't think anybody really liked that stuff, well, besides me.Ok, so anyway, as well all know the world is round, but, contrary to Europe's idiotic ravings, we are most definitely not the center of the universe. Our planet is part of a system of eight planets that all revolve around the sun, and the reason that we see the moon and sun go down, is because the Earth is spinning as well. So we've learned we're just one small rock in the middle of one really, really, really, big solar system, all centering around, the Sun, while Europe is still happy with their insane Heliocentric theory." Sima Yi explained. "What exactly is the sun?" Zhang He inquired. "Well, It is believed to actually be a star, just like those ones" He said pointing upwards. "Only closer." "That stuff is really interesting." Said Zhang He looking at the sky. "What do you say we get some sleep now? My friends have got a their own tent over here." "Umm, well, I'm not really sure they'd want me, I mean I'll just be in the way and-" Sima Yi said, focusing on his fingers. "Nonsense, come on." Zhang He said pulling Sima Yi beside him. Zhang He located the tent and poked his head inside. "Sun Ce?" Zhang He whispered. "What?" He said sitting up. "Is there room for one more person besides me?" Zhang He asked. "There's room for like eight more, I scared everyone away so we could have it to ourselves!" Sun Ce bragged. "It's not my little sister is it? That's not right to have a girl in our tent!" "No, this is my friend, Sima Yi." He said yanking him through the door. "I'm s-sorry." Sima Yi mumbled to Sun Ce. "So you can talk! Come on, your not a bother to us, make yourself at home!" Sun Ce said, lying back down. Zhang He found a place on the floor next to Zhou Yu and lie down. Sima Yi went over to the far corner and removed his hat and hair bun, letting his dark hair fall down to the middle of his back. Zhang He listened to Zhou Yu's soft rhythmic breathing and closed his eyes. He tried to fall asleep, but he had always been stricken with insomnia. He lay awake, listening to the insects, night birds, and sounds of the autumn wind. Zhou Yu often opened his eyes sat up for a moment, and then went right back to sleep and Sun Ce was snoring a little. He would also have a tendency to thrash around and smack Zhou Yu with his arms. After what felt like an hour, everything went quiet. The insects calmed down and Zhou Yu had committed to his sleep. Just as Zhang He was beginning to slip away, he heard a horrible hacking cough from the corner. The coughing increased and the person began to sputter. Zhang He sat up and saw Sima Yi trying to get up and leave through the vicious coughs. He stood up and drunkenly fell outside. Zhang He stood up and went to assist him. Outside, Sima Yi lay on the ground, with his hand over his mouth, still hacking away. Zhang he bent down beside him and saw that Sima Yi's hand was covered in blood. He was shivering and tears were streaming from his eyes. He sat up and spit more blood onto the ground. "Sima Yi? Are you alright?" Zhang He said very worried. "I-I'm fine." He said, hands shaking vigorously. "That just happens sometimes.I just coughed so much it cut my throat a little, nothing to worry about." He tried to get up but fell over again. "Here." Zhang He said, helping him inside. "T-thank you." Sima Yi said. He went back to the corner fell asleep immediately. Zhang He resumed his position near Zhou Yu and also fell asleep fairly quick. When they awoke, Sima Yi had already left. "Wonder why he was so scared of us." Sun Ce said preparing his hair. "He's just shy, I'm sure he'll be better after you guys get to know him. He's really smart, I'm sure he'll become a strategist." Zhang He said. "He's seems like he would be a good addition to our group, let's try and "recruit" him." Sun Ce said standing up. "We'd better hurry, their planning to leave at any moment." Zhou Yu said, looking at the line of horses. They walked over and mounted their three usual horses and mounted. The pulled back and waited to catch up to Sima Yi. "Uh, hello." He said when they approached. "Hey! We decided to ride near you today, and you can't hear Dian Wei make that weird noise from back here!" Sun Ce said. Zhou Yu and Zhang He laughed at this. Dian Wei would rarely speak, but instead he would make an odd "Rrrrei!" noise. They continued to talk among themselves for a while until Sun Shang Xiang rode up. "There you guys are! I was looking all over for y-" She stopped when she saw Sima Yi with them. She opened her eyes wider and her cheeks flushed pink. "I-I've got go now!" She said turning around and heading back towards the front. "Wonder what's up with her..." Sun Ce said, "Sis usually loves to talk with us, she's a bit of a tomboy."
After about a week, Sima Yi was considered one of them. The four of them never separated throughout the journey. He no longer was shy and untrusting with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, but seemed quite happy, as if this was the very first time he had been accepted into a group of friends. They saw less and less of Sun Shang Xiang, she always seemed to be ducking out of their sight and avoiding them. "What is wrong with sis?" Sun Ce said after the fifth time she had run away from them. "It's not like we have some horrible infectious disease or something." "She seems like a nice girl." Sima Yi said, looking off in the direction she had run off in. "She really is, look what she gave me!" Zhang He said, showing off the pretty little ocarina. "Hey, I gave her that as a birthday gift once." Sun Ce said, "She just gave it away!?" "I can play that." Said Zhou Yu "Here, give it a try, I'm no good at it." Zhang He said, handing it to Zhou Yu. He took his hands off the reigns and held the ocarina delicately in his pale hands. He played a slow and mournful tune. His fingers moved with speed and expertise across the small instrument. The entire song came out beautiful and flawless. He lowered the ocarina from his soft pink lips and smiled. "I didn't know you could play that well, Zhou Yu." Said Sun Ce. "I've been playing the ocarina since I was about seven years old, Of course I can play like that." Zhou Yu said. "Can you write music?" Zhang He asked. "Yes" He answered. "Can you figure this song out and write it down for me?" Zhang He said and whistled the tune. "I know that song, it's called 'Kaze no Mori', Its Japanese. See, I'll play it." And he did so. "I'll write it down for you tonight." Handing the ocarina back to its owner. Later on in the day, Zhang He decided to go and visit Sun Shang Xiang on his own. "I'm going to ride up on ahead for a while, I'll be right back," He said. He pushed his way through the many horses and carts until he located the red haired girl. "Hey! You came to see me!" She said gleefully. "Yes, I've been wondering why you haven't rode with us these past few days." Zhang He said. "Well. It's.Sima Yi." She said, looking the horses. "You don't like him?" Zhang He said in disbelief. "Oh, no, no, no, it's not that, no that at all!" She said hurriedly. "Then what is it?" Zhang He asked loudly. "It's just, well.never mind, you won't understand. How have you been?" She said, hastily changing the subject. "Any why wouldn't I understand?" Zhang He teased. "You just wouldn't!" She shrieked playfully. "Ooooh, you're blushing." Zhang He pointed out. "I am not, leave me alone!" She said, turning away. "I think I know what's going on." Zhang He said smiling. "Well, you're obviously quite mistaken, because nothing is going on!" Sun Shang Xiang said in a matter-of-fact voice. "If you say so." He said, turning his horse around. "I'll see you later."
Later that night, Zhou Yu handed a rolled up sheet of paper to Zhang He. "Thanks a lot, Zhou Yu, I'll be able to use this a lot." Zhang He said. "It was nothing, I could of done it in my sleep." Zhou Yu smiled. "I'll be right back, my sure to save me a spot in the tent tonight." Zhang He said scheming. He had thought a lot about his conversation with Sun Shang Xiang today, and he wanted to test something. He copied down the notes on a separate sheet of paper so he could learn them himself, and then set out to find Sima Yi. He was in the tent, reading a book, while Sun Ce and Zhou Yu argued. "Sima Yi, can you do me a favor?" He asked politely. "Sure, alright, what's the task?" Sima Yi said, spying the rolled up paper in Zhang He's hand. "I want you to take this to Sun Shang Xiang, will you tell her it's the music for my song?" Zhang He requested, holding out the tube of paper. "Sure." said Sima Yi "But why can't you do it, she's right over there." "Because you have to do it," Zhang He said giving his and encouraging push "Don't be shy now." Sima Yi glided over to where Sun Shang Xiang was sitting and drawing. "Umm, Miss?" Sima Yi said, trying to get her attention. She looked up and gasped. "Y-yes?" She said standing up. "Zhang He wanted me to give this to you." He said, holding out the document. She took the paper with a quivering hand and unrolled it. "He said it was the music to his song, that you wanted it." Said Sima Yi; nervous to be talking to someone he didn't really know. "W-w-well tell him I s-said thanks, and, uh thank you, too!" She said making her escape. Sima Yi stood there for a moment then walked back to Zhang He. "I don't think she likes me very much." He said when he got back. "Well, I don't know about that." Said Zhang He smiling. As they were walking back to the tent Zhang He heard horses hooves in the distance. "An approaching rider?" He said. "Maybe it's a Yellow Turban spy." Sima Yi suggested. The hooves got closer and closer then they stopped. They heard footsteps approaching quickly and got on their guard. Then, out of the darkness, came a woman running at full speed towards them. "ZHANG HE!!!" She yelled and threw her arms around. He then realized it was Rai Tso, and he patted her awkwardly on the head. "You.know her?" Sima Yi said. "He'd better not have forgotten me!" She said letting go "I thought I'd never see you again!" "What happened to you? I heard you were injured." Zhang He said. "Some bastard Yellow Turban shot me twice in the shoulder with his bow. I thought I was done for, but Cao Cao has some great medics on his side!" Rai Tso explained. "Well, I'm glad your ok. I was worried you wouldn't be here for the battle!" Zhang He said, hand on the back of his head. "And miss seeing you ride with Yuan Shao? I just have to be there! Who's this you've met?" She said, gesturing to Sima Yi. "This is my friend, Sima Yi, He's a genius!" Zhang He said. "Oh, I know you, you were the one being yelled at the day I arrived, what did you do to make your father so mad?" "I was.reading a fiction book, he doesn't approve of those." He said, looking guilty. "Whoa.that's harsh." She said. "Well, you two better get to bed, time for me to report to Yuan Shao. See you in the morrow." The boys walked back to the tent and lay down next to Zhou Yu and Sun Ce and fell asleep. The next couple of weeks passed fairly quickly with Rai Tso. She would drop by on the riding party occasionally and talk about things with them. She also got to know Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Sima Yi better, and they all agreed she was the perfect mother figure. After many boring days of riding the horse over and over, Zhang He took to practicing with his ocarina. He was getting a lot better and could almost play 'Kaze no Mori' without looking at the music. After a while the luscious fields of grass and farmland turned dry and rocky. They were tracking through a jagged mountain range. Barley any animals or birds lived here and no grass grew at all. Once, they passed by a blind man living in a clay hut by the side of the mountain who went crazy with fear at the sound of hooves. He scrambled inside his house, yelling about the Yellow Turbans. Then often went by precarious looking ridges that were so narrow, only one horse could pass at a time. Below the crumbling cliffs was foot upon foot of white mist, ever changing and mysterious. "This place is very weird." Zhang He said to Rai Tso and she laughed. "Welcome to the lovely Guan Du province!" She said sarcastically After about two more days snow began to fall, dampening their spirits and slowing them down. Autumn was slowly dying away and winter was taking its turn. "Ohh, man, we're gonna show the Yellow Turbans! Those cry babies will scream and run away when we show up. I bet I can kill more than you can, Zhang He!" Sun Ce challenged. "I'll take you up on that bet! My Talons are aching for a fight!" Zhang He said. "Don't brag Sun Ce, I seem to recall a battle not long ago where you were crying for your mother running as fast as you could from a general." Zhou Yu said smiling. "Be quiet! Shut up you guys!" Sun Ce said trying to quell their laughter. That night, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, Sun Jian and Sima Xu all agreed that this was the spot where the main camp should be set up. The men worked all night setting up all the tents they had, and everyone at a large meal for the coming battle. All the generals and strategists went of plans and made last minute changes. They all tried, but neither Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Zhang He, or Sima Yi could get very much sleep that night. In the morning, they all woke at the crack of dawn and dressed in their armor. They practiced just a bit with their weapons then mounted their horses. Everyone set out led by Yuan Shao and Sun Jian. After about twenty minutes they reached the slope that led down to the Yellow Turban stronghold. They all gazed to and prepared themselves for whatever would happen next. "Today." Yuan Shao said turning back to face everyone, "The Yellow Turbans die!!!" An almighty cheer rang through canyon and thousands of feet and hooves charged down the canyon.