Author's Note: Wheeee!! Finally, a worthy chapter. Diao and Zhang's bond
increases and Sun Shang and My widdle Sima Yi have a fight : (( btu all
will be well, don't you worry your little heads. I'm sorry if theirs is
another error, I don't know what's up wit the site ^^;; but if there is just check back in three hours or so and it should be fixed. I hope you
wike it kiddies : ))
Enjoy!
Part 3
Romance of the Four Leaders
Chapter 28
Hearts of Argent
He yanked Sima Yi's arms off Sun Shang Xiang and pushed him onto the ground. He didn't even wince and stared blankly up at the sky.
"Zhang He . . ." Sun Shang Xiang whined as she held onto him, gasping for breath. Sima Yi floated back to his feet, his head lolling to one side. Then Zhang he noticed his eyes were completely white and his body was moving as if strings were pulling it. For a slight second it looked as though the real Sima Yi was coming, back, but it was overtaken quickly.
"You bastard! Let Sima Yi GO!!" Zhang He snarled at the invisible force.
"I have failed again . . ." said the voice lazily. "This boy is becoming a nuisance to me, he could not even kill the woman."
"What is you problem? Why are picking on Sima Yi?" Diao Chan whined.
"Because," He said severely "He is a danger to my reputation and he is proving himself to be more intelligent than I, and that will not stand."
"Who the HELL are you?" Bellowed Zhang He, clenching his fists in anger.
"I simply cannot comprehend that you have not figured that out yet. I thought you at least had the brains to put two and two together, but I obviously misjudged you. I also find it odd you have not joined Shu, your father is on the force, you know." The voice drawled as Sima Yi still hung weirdly in the air.
"My father doesn't even know my name. Now, shut up and let him go!" Zhang He yelled viciously. Sun Shang Xiang was still clutching him, staring terrified back at Sima Yi's possessed body.
"Dear boy, why would I do something as stu-" The silky voice stopped abruptly. "What are you doing!?" It yelled at no one. Zhang He looked around, looking for someone who might've taken action, but there was nothing at all. "No! It's impossible you can't know magic as powerful as this! NOOO!!" He shrieked. A blinding flash of light filled Zhang He's eyes and he felt something collide into him with a large force. When he opened his eyes to find Sun Shang Xiang and Sima Yi, both with their eyes closed, lying on top of him. They both slowly came back to life and rubbed their faces. Sima Yi looked down drowsily at his chest, the smiled wryly.
"It worked! I knew it!" He said to himself, as he stood up a lot more robust than before. Once Sun Shang Xiang saw that Sima Yi was next to her, stood up quickly and ran a small distance away. Everyone gazed apprehensively at Sima Yi, who looked downright confused. "What's the matter?" He asked finally.
"Can't you even tell what you're doing when you're possessed?" Diao Chan asked softly.
"No, what did I do? Did I hurt someone?" He asked, his face growing even paler.
"You . . . almost killed Sun Shang Xiang." Zhang He explained slowly, avoiding his gaze. Sima Yi made a noise like a wounded animal and sunk to his knees.
"This is all my fault . . .,"He wailed into his hands. "I let him take control, I actually let him . . ."
"Why would you do something like that?" Asked Diao Chan, stepping a bit closer.
"So I could perform the Soul Transfer. It's an incantation to counter the Chi-Ku-Ta spell. What it does is switches the physical maladies and injuries to the man possessing you, punishing him for taking over. I thought it would be a good way to get revenge and cure myself, I never thought it would come to this. I'm so selfish, I could've killed anyone of you, how dare I, how dare I . . .?" He whined pathetically, still hiding his face. Sun Shang Xiang looked as if she was torn between two actions, one part of seemed to want to go up and comfort him, and the other wanted to get a far away as possible. She shut her eyelids tightly, than ran as fast as she could away from them all.
"Sun Shang Xiang . . ." Sima Yi whispered, his eyes showing a hurting, but somehow blank expression.
"Come on, let's go back . . ." Zhang He said, offering him a hand. Sima Yi didn't take it, but stood up anyway.
"I'll be back later . . ." He breathed, then turned slowly on his heel and started to walk in the direction of some trees.
"He'll get in even more trouble if we let him go alone, let's g-" Diao Chan was interrupted when Zhang He stopped her from walking forward.
"Let him be alone . . ." He hissed in a gentle way. They both turned sadly, watching Sima Yi's figure slowly making his way to the trees. They walked back silently, Zhang He with his arm protectively around Diao Chan's shoulders. As they were about to walk back into the threshold of the camp, yet another surprise came their way.
The air was suddenly filled with an enormous rumbling, which was of hoof beats. A screaming filled the air and from behind them appeared two people, one extremely tiny and the other medium sized. The medium one was clutching the horse for dear life and holding the tiny one by the scruff of the neck. They were swinging wildly from side to side, and yelling extremely loud. Zhang He jumped, seized Diao Chan, and sped into the camp. He halted when he reached Su Shang Xiang, who was being pestered by Zhou Yu and Sun Ce to explain what had happened, with two very nervous looking Qiao sisters on the side.
"Their coming!" Zhang He yelled, and they all stopped to look at him. After a moment or two Zhou Yu spoke.
"Who is coming?" He asked plainly. Before Zhang He could get the words out, the rumbling and wailing behind him returned and a huge crash erupted behind him. He set Diao Chan down, and slowly turned to face what was behind him.
The horse and two people had all become entangled in one another, the animal desperately trying to get back up. The larger man stood up lightening fast, yanked up the tiny girl and ran away from the bucking steed. He panted and set down the tiny girl, placing his hands on his knees.
"What is going on?" Zhang He said amazed. The man slowly rose back to his full height. An enormous crop of straight, jet-black hair was tied into a samurai ponytail on his head. His eyes were steely gray and he stood a little shorter than Sima Yi, who was quite small himself. He wore clothes that were clearly not from China: a white Kimono top with enormous sleeves and a bright red hakama (A hakama is the skirt-like pants that some Ju- jitsu practitioners wear. Traditionally, it was worn by the samurai to protect their legs while riding.) folded in the Yuki style, which meant the wearer was braver and with much valor. She wore temple socks and wooden sandals.
The second rose about two feet into the air. She was so small Zhang He could barley see her if he looked directly down. She wore the exact same thing as the man, but had an additional red bow in her hair. Her eyes were black and watery with huge expression and her hair was in a wedge cut. She had something round and pink in her mouth and appeared to be munching on it slowly.
"Moshi-moshi!" The man said in an extremely odd voice that was a little high. "Anata senta no ano Shi?" Zhang he stared blankly at this for a couple of seconds. What in the world did he just say?
"Uhh, come again?" Zhang He asked.
"Anata iie hanasu Nihongo?" He asked. After a while he closed his eyes. "Hello, I come from Japan." He said slowly.
"Ohhh, you were speaking Japanese!" Zhang He said, putting the pieces together.
"Yes, I have come from Japan to join the Shi. Are you the leader?" He inquired, scratching his head.
"Yes, that's me." Zhang He replied. "You wish to join the Shi?"
"Yes, I would like that very much." He said, looking hopeful in a less tha masculine way.
"A-alright, to join I've just got to know a bit about you, and, uhhh, her too." Zhang He said uncertainly, looking down at the miniscule girl.
"Yes, well my name is Mitsuke. I am a man from Japan, who used to be a samurai. I decided this wasn't a good style of living so I moved to China to be a general in one of the kingdoms. You sounded like the kindest leader, so I sought you out. And about her . . . I really don't know where she came from, but ever since I can remember she's been following me around. My parents were killed when I was extremely young, so I think she is my sister, but she's stayed that height for her entire life. She doesn't say much, and can't speak any Chinese, but she doesn't eat that much or take up very much space either. I don't know her real name, but I just call her Kawaii-sama."
"Well, I usually don't allow women in my army that I don't know, but I guess she really won't be fighting, so. . . Welcome aboard! Just talk to the men over there and they should give you a room and some other supplies too." Zhang He explained, still in a state of numbness. Mitsuke thanked him loudly, bowed, the grabbed Kawaii-sama and marched off. A few seconds of silence passed with all of them staring off in the direction.
"What just happened?" Sun Ce asked. Zhang He laughed a bit and fingered his ponytail.
"We just got a new general." He smiled.
The day dragged on and by nighttime, Sima Yi had still not returned. Sun Shang Xiang had retreated to her room and Zhang He and Diao Chan were checking around the camp to see the survivors and gather a report from the soldiers.
"I wasn't sure of what happened, but I don't think many of our generals were hurt. You could look inside, they might be in there." One wounded soldier told Zhang He. Zhang He nodded, thanked him, the stepped inside.
It was a mess. All over, people were covering the floor and two or three people were smashed into the one-person beds. The found Sun Quan lying close to the door, clutching his stomach and moaning to himself.
"How are you Sun Quan?" Zhang He asked him softly. Sun Quan wailed and rolled over.
"I was stabbed with a dirty sword!" He cried. "I'll be infected, I'll die of some horrible disease, and do I have a fever? My throat feels a little sore already. Ohhh nooo." He whined.
"I'm doing great too . . ." Zhang He said under his breath as he stepped away.
"How old is he anyway?" Diao Chan whispered.
"Twelve, I think. What a hypochondriac!" Zhang He said. The saw Ma Chao and Taishi Ci, who both had minor injuries on their limbs and were grunting fiercely at the healers to be let go, but the had to stay behind to heal up. Pang Tong was totally devoid of wounds, but was helping the healers and chanting strange incantations that seemed to relive pain and quicken healing. The Ning was crying, screaming and throwing a huge fit because he didn't want the healers to stitch him up.
"NIIING, get away from me! They tryin' to kill me, Zhang He, save me, NING!" He screeched as about four men held him down. Zhang He's face fought furiously to hold back the smile.
"It's for your own good." He said, covering his face to hide the grin. Huang Zhong should have been dead; he had a serious head injury, but was wide-awake and bellyaching loudly. First, all the young people were fools, then the healers didn't know what they were doing. Zhang He then had to step away from his rambling, he was starting to get a headache. Wei Yan was emitting tremendous grunts and wails as they stitched him up and Xu Huang was unconscious with a badly bleeding chest. Zhang Liao had gotten into a bad scuffle with Meng Huo and barely lived to tell about it. His left arm and leg were broken, along with a rib or two. He had a nasty crack on the head and his foot stuck out at an odd angle. He lay wheezing on the bed, his eyes staring voidly off at the wall. When Zhang He came up to him he didn't even move or make any sign of recognition.
"How are you, brother?" He asked cautiously. Zhang Liao took a sharp breath and his eyes rolled lazily left and looked at Zhang He. His lips moved slightly but no sound came out.
"Don't worry you'll get better." Zhang He reassured him as started walking away. "I'll come see you later, goodbye for now."
Outside he met a soldier and was informed that one of their generals had indeed fallen.
"I was fighting with Meng Huo and general and General Xu Zhu came charging up. Before he could even reach Meng Huo, he collapsed. I think he had a heart attack." The man explained. Zhang He sighed.
"I knew it would happen sooner or later. Poor guy, oh well, Sima Yi won't be too sad . . ." He added in an undertone to Diao Chan.
"Do you know what this means?" She asked as they strode away from the infirmary.
"What? We lost our first general?" Zhang He guessed blindly.
"No, Sima Yi is safe! Xu Zhu was the one the Lady in Black took, instead." She said, fingering her deep brown locks.
"Speaking of Sima Yi, I hope he's alright. He didn't mean to hurt Sun Shang Xiang, he practically worships her!" Zhang He, changing the subject involuntarily.
"Yes, I knew it wasn't your fault when you slashed me, she should be the same with Sima Yi. She's only a year younger than me, fourteen, she should be able to figure that out on her own." Diao Chan said in an almost motherly sort of way.
"I think she might have been scared. She's always been infatuated with Sima Yi, but at the same time intimidated. She's led a sheltered life and, as we both know, she's quite a tomboy. With these things combined, I bet it would make it very difficult to deal with, she's never experienced anything like this before." Zhang He added.
"Right, and Sima Yi would never even dream about harming her in any way, ever." Diao Chan mused with a finger at her lips. They walk a little ways outside of the camp and sat down on the edge of the forest. The land was illuminated orange with the exotic sun sinking below the horizon. It silhouetted the wispy trees and conjured long black shadows over the hills. Zhang He's thoughts swan indolently, going over dreamy things that really made no sense, but seemed to calm him.
"What do you think I should do next?" He asked serenely.
"Hmm?" Diao Chan hummed, perking up. "I dunno, I wish everything was just peaceful again."
"It's weird, having all this power, I just don't feel right being a leader. I never thought I could be leading a dynasty. I was always just one of Zhang Fei's nobody sons, but now, I feel like I actually live for a purpose. It's a little overwhelming." He said, resting his chin on his hands.
"You're just not used to it, I'm sure you'll you are the one that's going to lead them all. Your brothers too, but mostly you. I can tell, just something so instinctive about you, you were born to. In fact, when you finally do become a great leader, you'll forget that you even had this conversation, and you'll probably forget about me too . . ." She said with a painful realistic melancholy in her eyes. Zhang He looked over at her and into her radiant, luminous eyes. The pain that filled them hurt him so inside, his very soul ached just by being exposed to it. He grabbed her hand and stared at her directly.
"I could never forget about you, Diao Chan." He breathed, his heart aching for the look to depart. She smiled, but it just increased. He saw a hint of tears fill up in her shining eyes.
"You say that now, but think about the future, think about how you'll be in ten years. You'll grow older; people will change, and so will you. You'll probably take a wife, and have some children too. And I'll be no more than a grayed memory in the corner of your mind. I can't be that important to you, anyway." She continued, her eyes now brimming with tears.
"Don't say that." Zhang He said, swallowing heavily. "Diao Chan. You're the person that's the most important to me, out of them all. You are the only person I ever really loved, how could I ever forget about you? I never want to leave; I want to stay with you for the rest of my life. Aren't I more than a bodyguard to you?" He asked, his chest feeling hollow.
"Of course you are, but . . . I know how men are, they treat women like objects or go off and get themselves killed. I just couldn't bear it if I really gave you my entire heart and you left me or died, I'd be destroyed inside." Tears were now pouring down her smooth cheeks like thick drops of cool liquid crystal. He took a small breath and pulled Diao Chan closer to him.
"It doesn't have to be that way. I'd never treat you like an item, you have feelings just the same as men do. And you know I could never die and leave you alone, I'd miss you too much to do that." He breathed, smiling placidly. "And I don't want any other woman, in fact, if . . . maybe . . . we won't have to lead separate lives, we could . . ." He stuttered nervously, avoiding her gaze. She looked up into his shining gray eyes with a look of confusion. His heart leapt. This is going no further! He thought rapidly. There was no way he would introduce any thoughts of marriage is her immediate response was less than joyous. Even if she did want to, Zhang He would take no risks at all. He didn't want to destroy something good, even if he had to wait just a little longer to seal the envelope. "We could stay together forever." He said smoothly, hoping this covered his mistake adequately. She gave him a sweet watery smile then rested her perfumed head on his chest.
"I really do love you . . ." She whispered calmingly. They sat for a while, enjoying each other, experiencing the hollow throbbing pain of sadness dissipate slowly. Zhang He grew drowsy and for a few moments considered lying back and falling asleep right where he was, right next to Diao Chan.
"It'll take a while before we get everything settled around here. But I'm going to leave that up to someone else down here. We get to go back soon." He droned peacefully.
"I'm glad, this Nanman area is horrible." She said on a much brighter note.
"I think we must attack Shu next. If we take out their brain, that's Zhuge Liang, they'll be useless. Then we have get Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and my father." He mused.
"You don't hesitate at all about killing your own father?" She asked somewhat disbelievingly.
"If you knew him you'd understand." He stated, fiddling with his thumbs.
"I could never attack my father, even though he's not really my real father, or that he let me go to Dong Zhou." Diao Chan said.
"Well, I'm sure your father is a kind man, but look at other people. Sima Yi's father is a terrible man; if he were my father I'd have killed him long ago. But he seems to keep respect for him." Zhang He argued.
"Why is he so bad? I know he's strict, but still . . ." She left off.
"I'm sure if you knew you'd understand but I don't think it would be a moral thing to do to explain to you his private experiences with asking permission first." Zhang He said.
"And how would you know in the first place?" Said a cold voice behind him. He spun around and looked straight into the face of Sima Yi. His eyes were very red and bloodshot, also looking suspiciously moist.
"Sima Yi!" Zhang He cried.
"How do you know?" He reiterated, losing some of the coldness and gaining a bit of curiosity.
"Um, well, hehehe!" He laughed disarmingly. "I've an awful fault, brother. When put up to the right situation I have an extremely bad streak for eavesdropping." He whined, playing with the shiny purple bow that fastened his ponytail. Sima Yi narrowed his eyes, and then cast a ironic smile back his way.
"Might as well know anyway, I don't really care anymore." He said, his deep brown eyes slightly growing wetter.
"Then what is it?" Diao Chan said, piping up. "What happened?" Sima Yi's eyes flinched a bit, and for a moment it looked as though he might go into another fit, but he took a deep breath and centered himself.
"Never you mind Diao Chan, let's all go back, it's getting late and I'm hungry." Zhang he said, getting to his feet, and then helping Diao Chan up.
"Y-you can go with out me . . ." Sima Yi said shakily. "I think she's still mad." He added softly.
"Sun Shang Xiang?" Zhang He said, raising an eyebrow. "She's being dumb Sima Yi, I'm sure she's just fine. Let's go back, and if she looks upset, you can apologize to her, even though it really wasn't your fault, I bet it'll make her feel better." Zhang He advised.
"A-alright, but if something bad happens, it'll be all your fault." He said shaking his head.
A while later they entered the camp. Most of the soldiers and generals had pretty much healed up and were lolling around the tents, conversing peacefully. A team had been sent out to round up the surviving Nanmans and bring them into the Shi force. Just as Zhang He strolled in, a small boy came racing up to him and bowed vigorously and wildly.
"Lord Zhang He, thank you!" He squeaked gratefully. At first Zhang He didn't recognize him, but soon found out who it was.
"Han Rui!" He exclaimed. "You made it! Did they treat you well when you came in?" He asked.
"Very well, my Lord! You're the greatest! I shall forever serve you!" He announced in a partially gallant way.
"Great, I'm glad to have you. Goodbye for now." He said, waving him off.
They next person they encountered was the miniscule Kawaii-Sama. Zhang He stopped when he saw her and stared a minute. She was still munching the hot pink object and her tiny eyes were fixed on their party.
"Hello." Zhang He called warily, but no response came. "Sima Yi, say something to her Japanese." Zhang He said as the idea came to him.
"Konnichiwa." He said quickly, and everyone waited. She blink once, the waddled off into the darkness.
"Did someone just say 'konnichiwa'?" Said the voice of Mitsuke from behind them.
"Hai." Sima Yi smiled back at their newest officer.
"Genki! Anata no hanasu Nihongo!" He said, clapping oddly. Sima Yi nodded.
"Chisaii sukoshi." He added cocking his head a little and looking upwards.
"Alright, no more different language!" Zhang He said. "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving." He whined.
"Me too." Diao Chan agreed.
"Great, it'll give me a chance to get to know you guys better!" Mitsuke exclaimed. "Allow me to get food for all of us, I'll be right back. KAWAII- SAMA!!??" He called into the darkness, trying to find the little girl. After he was out of sight, Sima Yi turned back to them.
"Who was that?" He asked.
"We got a new general, as you see!" Zhang He said.
"There's something weird about him, I can't put my finger on it . . ." Sima Yi said.
"What're talking about?" Zhang He asked confused.
"Never mind, it's just that -" He stopped abruptly. Sitting someway off was Sun Shang Xiang. She was facing her back to them, and Zhang He could tell she was completely oblivious of them all.
"Go over to her." Zhang He whispered. He looked worried, and then Diao Chan gave him a reassuring nod. He swallowed and stepped lightly over to where she was. He looked back at Zhang He for help, but he just crossed his arms and gave him a forceful look.
"Um, hello . . ." He said apprehensively. She flipped her head around and sized him up.
"What?" She asked sharply. Sima Yi winced slightly.
"Um, I just, er, wanted to say that I'm sorry." He muttered, digging his long wooden shoe into the dirt and watching it with rapt attention.
"Sorry?" She snapped, eyeing him unkindly as if to say 'how dare you apologize to me!' "Why would you say something like that?"
"Well, I just thought, that earlier on Zhang He said that I almost hurt you, and I'd better make it clear that I wouldn't dream of such a thing, and -" She then interrupted his viciously.
"Almost hurt me!? You tricked me and tried to strangle me to death! I can't believe you even came up to me after something like that!" She said, words cutting into him mercilessly.
"But, Sun Shang Xiang, I didn't even know what I was doing, it wasn't really me, the -"
"You never should have let him take over then! I thought you actually cared about me, but I was seriously wrong." She said, throwing looks of daggers.
"But I do, very much so!" He said kneeling hopelessly beside.
"Quiet! I don't want to hear your excuses! Get away from me!" She said, a strange fear growing in her eyes. Her voice was high and whiney and held a hint of sorrow.
"But, Su -"
"GET AWAY OR I'LL SCREAM!" She wailed, standing up. Sima Yi stood up rigidly as well and seized her hand before she could escape.
"Just give me a chance to explain! Please, I never wish for harm to come upon you, just let me expl-" An earsplitting screech rang through the air as Sun Shang Xiang fought to get away. Sima Yi released his grip and fell back. Sun Ce came blasting out of a nearby tent, closely followed by Da Qiao.
"What's wrong, Sis?" He asked worriedly.
"Help me, brother, Sima Yi is attacking me!"
another error, I don't know what's up wit the site ^^;; but if there is just check back in three hours or so and it should be fixed. I hope you
wike it kiddies : ))
Enjoy!
Part 3
Romance of the Four Leaders
Chapter 28
Hearts of Argent
He yanked Sima Yi's arms off Sun Shang Xiang and pushed him onto the ground. He didn't even wince and stared blankly up at the sky.
"Zhang He . . ." Sun Shang Xiang whined as she held onto him, gasping for breath. Sima Yi floated back to his feet, his head lolling to one side. Then Zhang he noticed his eyes were completely white and his body was moving as if strings were pulling it. For a slight second it looked as though the real Sima Yi was coming, back, but it was overtaken quickly.
"You bastard! Let Sima Yi GO!!" Zhang He snarled at the invisible force.
"I have failed again . . ." said the voice lazily. "This boy is becoming a nuisance to me, he could not even kill the woman."
"What is you problem? Why are picking on Sima Yi?" Diao Chan whined.
"Because," He said severely "He is a danger to my reputation and he is proving himself to be more intelligent than I, and that will not stand."
"Who the HELL are you?" Bellowed Zhang He, clenching his fists in anger.
"I simply cannot comprehend that you have not figured that out yet. I thought you at least had the brains to put two and two together, but I obviously misjudged you. I also find it odd you have not joined Shu, your father is on the force, you know." The voice drawled as Sima Yi still hung weirdly in the air.
"My father doesn't even know my name. Now, shut up and let him go!" Zhang He yelled viciously. Sun Shang Xiang was still clutching him, staring terrified back at Sima Yi's possessed body.
"Dear boy, why would I do something as stu-" The silky voice stopped abruptly. "What are you doing!?" It yelled at no one. Zhang He looked around, looking for someone who might've taken action, but there was nothing at all. "No! It's impossible you can't know magic as powerful as this! NOOO!!" He shrieked. A blinding flash of light filled Zhang He's eyes and he felt something collide into him with a large force. When he opened his eyes to find Sun Shang Xiang and Sima Yi, both with their eyes closed, lying on top of him. They both slowly came back to life and rubbed their faces. Sima Yi looked down drowsily at his chest, the smiled wryly.
"It worked! I knew it!" He said to himself, as he stood up a lot more robust than before. Once Sun Shang Xiang saw that Sima Yi was next to her, stood up quickly and ran a small distance away. Everyone gazed apprehensively at Sima Yi, who looked downright confused. "What's the matter?" He asked finally.
"Can't you even tell what you're doing when you're possessed?" Diao Chan asked softly.
"No, what did I do? Did I hurt someone?" He asked, his face growing even paler.
"You . . . almost killed Sun Shang Xiang." Zhang He explained slowly, avoiding his gaze. Sima Yi made a noise like a wounded animal and sunk to his knees.
"This is all my fault . . .,"He wailed into his hands. "I let him take control, I actually let him . . ."
"Why would you do something like that?" Asked Diao Chan, stepping a bit closer.
"So I could perform the Soul Transfer. It's an incantation to counter the Chi-Ku-Ta spell. What it does is switches the physical maladies and injuries to the man possessing you, punishing him for taking over. I thought it would be a good way to get revenge and cure myself, I never thought it would come to this. I'm so selfish, I could've killed anyone of you, how dare I, how dare I . . .?" He whined pathetically, still hiding his face. Sun Shang Xiang looked as if she was torn between two actions, one part of seemed to want to go up and comfort him, and the other wanted to get a far away as possible. She shut her eyelids tightly, than ran as fast as she could away from them all.
"Sun Shang Xiang . . ." Sima Yi whispered, his eyes showing a hurting, but somehow blank expression.
"Come on, let's go back . . ." Zhang He said, offering him a hand. Sima Yi didn't take it, but stood up anyway.
"I'll be back later . . ." He breathed, then turned slowly on his heel and started to walk in the direction of some trees.
"He'll get in even more trouble if we let him go alone, let's g-" Diao Chan was interrupted when Zhang He stopped her from walking forward.
"Let him be alone . . ." He hissed in a gentle way. They both turned sadly, watching Sima Yi's figure slowly making his way to the trees. They walked back silently, Zhang He with his arm protectively around Diao Chan's shoulders. As they were about to walk back into the threshold of the camp, yet another surprise came their way.
The air was suddenly filled with an enormous rumbling, which was of hoof beats. A screaming filled the air and from behind them appeared two people, one extremely tiny and the other medium sized. The medium one was clutching the horse for dear life and holding the tiny one by the scruff of the neck. They were swinging wildly from side to side, and yelling extremely loud. Zhang He jumped, seized Diao Chan, and sped into the camp. He halted when he reached Su Shang Xiang, who was being pestered by Zhou Yu and Sun Ce to explain what had happened, with two very nervous looking Qiao sisters on the side.
"Their coming!" Zhang He yelled, and they all stopped to look at him. After a moment or two Zhou Yu spoke.
"Who is coming?" He asked plainly. Before Zhang He could get the words out, the rumbling and wailing behind him returned and a huge crash erupted behind him. He set Diao Chan down, and slowly turned to face what was behind him.
The horse and two people had all become entangled in one another, the animal desperately trying to get back up. The larger man stood up lightening fast, yanked up the tiny girl and ran away from the bucking steed. He panted and set down the tiny girl, placing his hands on his knees.
"What is going on?" Zhang He said amazed. The man slowly rose back to his full height. An enormous crop of straight, jet-black hair was tied into a samurai ponytail on his head. His eyes were steely gray and he stood a little shorter than Sima Yi, who was quite small himself. He wore clothes that were clearly not from China: a white Kimono top with enormous sleeves and a bright red hakama (A hakama is the skirt-like pants that some Ju- jitsu practitioners wear. Traditionally, it was worn by the samurai to protect their legs while riding.) folded in the Yuki style, which meant the wearer was braver and with much valor. She wore temple socks and wooden sandals.
The second rose about two feet into the air. She was so small Zhang He could barley see her if he looked directly down. She wore the exact same thing as the man, but had an additional red bow in her hair. Her eyes were black and watery with huge expression and her hair was in a wedge cut. She had something round and pink in her mouth and appeared to be munching on it slowly.
"Moshi-moshi!" The man said in an extremely odd voice that was a little high. "Anata senta no ano Shi?" Zhang he stared blankly at this for a couple of seconds. What in the world did he just say?
"Uhh, come again?" Zhang He asked.
"Anata iie hanasu Nihongo?" He asked. After a while he closed his eyes. "Hello, I come from Japan." He said slowly.
"Ohhh, you were speaking Japanese!" Zhang He said, putting the pieces together.
"Yes, I have come from Japan to join the Shi. Are you the leader?" He inquired, scratching his head.
"Yes, that's me." Zhang He replied. "You wish to join the Shi?"
"Yes, I would like that very much." He said, looking hopeful in a less tha masculine way.
"A-alright, to join I've just got to know a bit about you, and, uhhh, her too." Zhang He said uncertainly, looking down at the miniscule girl.
"Yes, well my name is Mitsuke. I am a man from Japan, who used to be a samurai. I decided this wasn't a good style of living so I moved to China to be a general in one of the kingdoms. You sounded like the kindest leader, so I sought you out. And about her . . . I really don't know where she came from, but ever since I can remember she's been following me around. My parents were killed when I was extremely young, so I think she is my sister, but she's stayed that height for her entire life. She doesn't say much, and can't speak any Chinese, but she doesn't eat that much or take up very much space either. I don't know her real name, but I just call her Kawaii-sama."
"Well, I usually don't allow women in my army that I don't know, but I guess she really won't be fighting, so. . . Welcome aboard! Just talk to the men over there and they should give you a room and some other supplies too." Zhang He explained, still in a state of numbness. Mitsuke thanked him loudly, bowed, the grabbed Kawaii-sama and marched off. A few seconds of silence passed with all of them staring off in the direction.
"What just happened?" Sun Ce asked. Zhang He laughed a bit and fingered his ponytail.
"We just got a new general." He smiled.
The day dragged on and by nighttime, Sima Yi had still not returned. Sun Shang Xiang had retreated to her room and Zhang He and Diao Chan were checking around the camp to see the survivors and gather a report from the soldiers.
"I wasn't sure of what happened, but I don't think many of our generals were hurt. You could look inside, they might be in there." One wounded soldier told Zhang He. Zhang He nodded, thanked him, the stepped inside.
It was a mess. All over, people were covering the floor and two or three people were smashed into the one-person beds. The found Sun Quan lying close to the door, clutching his stomach and moaning to himself.
"How are you Sun Quan?" Zhang He asked him softly. Sun Quan wailed and rolled over.
"I was stabbed with a dirty sword!" He cried. "I'll be infected, I'll die of some horrible disease, and do I have a fever? My throat feels a little sore already. Ohhh nooo." He whined.
"I'm doing great too . . ." Zhang He said under his breath as he stepped away.
"How old is he anyway?" Diao Chan whispered.
"Twelve, I think. What a hypochondriac!" Zhang He said. The saw Ma Chao and Taishi Ci, who both had minor injuries on their limbs and were grunting fiercely at the healers to be let go, but the had to stay behind to heal up. Pang Tong was totally devoid of wounds, but was helping the healers and chanting strange incantations that seemed to relive pain and quicken healing. The Ning was crying, screaming and throwing a huge fit because he didn't want the healers to stitch him up.
"NIIING, get away from me! They tryin' to kill me, Zhang He, save me, NING!" He screeched as about four men held him down. Zhang He's face fought furiously to hold back the smile.
"It's for your own good." He said, covering his face to hide the grin. Huang Zhong should have been dead; he had a serious head injury, but was wide-awake and bellyaching loudly. First, all the young people were fools, then the healers didn't know what they were doing. Zhang He then had to step away from his rambling, he was starting to get a headache. Wei Yan was emitting tremendous grunts and wails as they stitched him up and Xu Huang was unconscious with a badly bleeding chest. Zhang Liao had gotten into a bad scuffle with Meng Huo and barely lived to tell about it. His left arm and leg were broken, along with a rib or two. He had a nasty crack on the head and his foot stuck out at an odd angle. He lay wheezing on the bed, his eyes staring voidly off at the wall. When Zhang He came up to him he didn't even move or make any sign of recognition.
"How are you, brother?" He asked cautiously. Zhang Liao took a sharp breath and his eyes rolled lazily left and looked at Zhang He. His lips moved slightly but no sound came out.
"Don't worry you'll get better." Zhang He reassured him as started walking away. "I'll come see you later, goodbye for now."
Outside he met a soldier and was informed that one of their generals had indeed fallen.
"I was fighting with Meng Huo and general and General Xu Zhu came charging up. Before he could even reach Meng Huo, he collapsed. I think he had a heart attack." The man explained. Zhang He sighed.
"I knew it would happen sooner or later. Poor guy, oh well, Sima Yi won't be too sad . . ." He added in an undertone to Diao Chan.
"Do you know what this means?" She asked as they strode away from the infirmary.
"What? We lost our first general?" Zhang He guessed blindly.
"No, Sima Yi is safe! Xu Zhu was the one the Lady in Black took, instead." She said, fingering her deep brown locks.
"Speaking of Sima Yi, I hope he's alright. He didn't mean to hurt Sun Shang Xiang, he practically worships her!" Zhang He, changing the subject involuntarily.
"Yes, I knew it wasn't your fault when you slashed me, she should be the same with Sima Yi. She's only a year younger than me, fourteen, she should be able to figure that out on her own." Diao Chan said in an almost motherly sort of way.
"I think she might have been scared. She's always been infatuated with Sima Yi, but at the same time intimidated. She's led a sheltered life and, as we both know, she's quite a tomboy. With these things combined, I bet it would make it very difficult to deal with, she's never experienced anything like this before." Zhang He added.
"Right, and Sima Yi would never even dream about harming her in any way, ever." Diao Chan mused with a finger at her lips. They walk a little ways outside of the camp and sat down on the edge of the forest. The land was illuminated orange with the exotic sun sinking below the horizon. It silhouetted the wispy trees and conjured long black shadows over the hills. Zhang He's thoughts swan indolently, going over dreamy things that really made no sense, but seemed to calm him.
"What do you think I should do next?" He asked serenely.
"Hmm?" Diao Chan hummed, perking up. "I dunno, I wish everything was just peaceful again."
"It's weird, having all this power, I just don't feel right being a leader. I never thought I could be leading a dynasty. I was always just one of Zhang Fei's nobody sons, but now, I feel like I actually live for a purpose. It's a little overwhelming." He said, resting his chin on his hands.
"You're just not used to it, I'm sure you'll you are the one that's going to lead them all. Your brothers too, but mostly you. I can tell, just something so instinctive about you, you were born to. In fact, when you finally do become a great leader, you'll forget that you even had this conversation, and you'll probably forget about me too . . ." She said with a painful realistic melancholy in her eyes. Zhang He looked over at her and into her radiant, luminous eyes. The pain that filled them hurt him so inside, his very soul ached just by being exposed to it. He grabbed her hand and stared at her directly.
"I could never forget about you, Diao Chan." He breathed, his heart aching for the look to depart. She smiled, but it just increased. He saw a hint of tears fill up in her shining eyes.
"You say that now, but think about the future, think about how you'll be in ten years. You'll grow older; people will change, and so will you. You'll probably take a wife, and have some children too. And I'll be no more than a grayed memory in the corner of your mind. I can't be that important to you, anyway." She continued, her eyes now brimming with tears.
"Don't say that." Zhang He said, swallowing heavily. "Diao Chan. You're the person that's the most important to me, out of them all. You are the only person I ever really loved, how could I ever forget about you? I never want to leave; I want to stay with you for the rest of my life. Aren't I more than a bodyguard to you?" He asked, his chest feeling hollow.
"Of course you are, but . . . I know how men are, they treat women like objects or go off and get themselves killed. I just couldn't bear it if I really gave you my entire heart and you left me or died, I'd be destroyed inside." Tears were now pouring down her smooth cheeks like thick drops of cool liquid crystal. He took a small breath and pulled Diao Chan closer to him.
"It doesn't have to be that way. I'd never treat you like an item, you have feelings just the same as men do. And you know I could never die and leave you alone, I'd miss you too much to do that." He breathed, smiling placidly. "And I don't want any other woman, in fact, if . . . maybe . . . we won't have to lead separate lives, we could . . ." He stuttered nervously, avoiding her gaze. She looked up into his shining gray eyes with a look of confusion. His heart leapt. This is going no further! He thought rapidly. There was no way he would introduce any thoughts of marriage is her immediate response was less than joyous. Even if she did want to, Zhang He would take no risks at all. He didn't want to destroy something good, even if he had to wait just a little longer to seal the envelope. "We could stay together forever." He said smoothly, hoping this covered his mistake adequately. She gave him a sweet watery smile then rested her perfumed head on his chest.
"I really do love you . . ." She whispered calmingly. They sat for a while, enjoying each other, experiencing the hollow throbbing pain of sadness dissipate slowly. Zhang He grew drowsy and for a few moments considered lying back and falling asleep right where he was, right next to Diao Chan.
"It'll take a while before we get everything settled around here. But I'm going to leave that up to someone else down here. We get to go back soon." He droned peacefully.
"I'm glad, this Nanman area is horrible." She said on a much brighter note.
"I think we must attack Shu next. If we take out their brain, that's Zhuge Liang, they'll be useless. Then we have get Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and my father." He mused.
"You don't hesitate at all about killing your own father?" She asked somewhat disbelievingly.
"If you knew him you'd understand." He stated, fiddling with his thumbs.
"I could never attack my father, even though he's not really my real father, or that he let me go to Dong Zhou." Diao Chan said.
"Well, I'm sure your father is a kind man, but look at other people. Sima Yi's father is a terrible man; if he were my father I'd have killed him long ago. But he seems to keep respect for him." Zhang He argued.
"Why is he so bad? I know he's strict, but still . . ." She left off.
"I'm sure if you knew you'd understand but I don't think it would be a moral thing to do to explain to you his private experiences with asking permission first." Zhang He said.
"And how would you know in the first place?" Said a cold voice behind him. He spun around and looked straight into the face of Sima Yi. His eyes were very red and bloodshot, also looking suspiciously moist.
"Sima Yi!" Zhang He cried.
"How do you know?" He reiterated, losing some of the coldness and gaining a bit of curiosity.
"Um, well, hehehe!" He laughed disarmingly. "I've an awful fault, brother. When put up to the right situation I have an extremely bad streak for eavesdropping." He whined, playing with the shiny purple bow that fastened his ponytail. Sima Yi narrowed his eyes, and then cast a ironic smile back his way.
"Might as well know anyway, I don't really care anymore." He said, his deep brown eyes slightly growing wetter.
"Then what is it?" Diao Chan said, piping up. "What happened?" Sima Yi's eyes flinched a bit, and for a moment it looked as though he might go into another fit, but he took a deep breath and centered himself.
"Never you mind Diao Chan, let's all go back, it's getting late and I'm hungry." Zhang he said, getting to his feet, and then helping Diao Chan up.
"Y-you can go with out me . . ." Sima Yi said shakily. "I think she's still mad." He added softly.
"Sun Shang Xiang?" Zhang He said, raising an eyebrow. "She's being dumb Sima Yi, I'm sure she's just fine. Let's go back, and if she looks upset, you can apologize to her, even though it really wasn't your fault, I bet it'll make her feel better." Zhang He advised.
"A-alright, but if something bad happens, it'll be all your fault." He said shaking his head.
A while later they entered the camp. Most of the soldiers and generals had pretty much healed up and were lolling around the tents, conversing peacefully. A team had been sent out to round up the surviving Nanmans and bring them into the Shi force. Just as Zhang He strolled in, a small boy came racing up to him and bowed vigorously and wildly.
"Lord Zhang He, thank you!" He squeaked gratefully. At first Zhang He didn't recognize him, but soon found out who it was.
"Han Rui!" He exclaimed. "You made it! Did they treat you well when you came in?" He asked.
"Very well, my Lord! You're the greatest! I shall forever serve you!" He announced in a partially gallant way.
"Great, I'm glad to have you. Goodbye for now." He said, waving him off.
They next person they encountered was the miniscule Kawaii-Sama. Zhang He stopped when he saw her and stared a minute. She was still munching the hot pink object and her tiny eyes were fixed on their party.
"Hello." Zhang He called warily, but no response came. "Sima Yi, say something to her Japanese." Zhang He said as the idea came to him.
"Konnichiwa." He said quickly, and everyone waited. She blink once, the waddled off into the darkness.
"Did someone just say 'konnichiwa'?" Said the voice of Mitsuke from behind them.
"Hai." Sima Yi smiled back at their newest officer.
"Genki! Anata no hanasu Nihongo!" He said, clapping oddly. Sima Yi nodded.
"Chisaii sukoshi." He added cocking his head a little and looking upwards.
"Alright, no more different language!" Zhang He said. "Come on, let's go eat, I'm starving." He whined.
"Me too." Diao Chan agreed.
"Great, it'll give me a chance to get to know you guys better!" Mitsuke exclaimed. "Allow me to get food for all of us, I'll be right back. KAWAII- SAMA!!??" He called into the darkness, trying to find the little girl. After he was out of sight, Sima Yi turned back to them.
"Who was that?" He asked.
"We got a new general, as you see!" Zhang He said.
"There's something weird about him, I can't put my finger on it . . ." Sima Yi said.
"What're talking about?" Zhang He asked confused.
"Never mind, it's just that -" He stopped abruptly. Sitting someway off was Sun Shang Xiang. She was facing her back to them, and Zhang He could tell she was completely oblivious of them all.
"Go over to her." Zhang He whispered. He looked worried, and then Diao Chan gave him a reassuring nod. He swallowed and stepped lightly over to where she was. He looked back at Zhang He for help, but he just crossed his arms and gave him a forceful look.
"Um, hello . . ." He said apprehensively. She flipped her head around and sized him up.
"What?" She asked sharply. Sima Yi winced slightly.
"Um, I just, er, wanted to say that I'm sorry." He muttered, digging his long wooden shoe into the dirt and watching it with rapt attention.
"Sorry?" She snapped, eyeing him unkindly as if to say 'how dare you apologize to me!' "Why would you say something like that?"
"Well, I just thought, that earlier on Zhang He said that I almost hurt you, and I'd better make it clear that I wouldn't dream of such a thing, and -" She then interrupted his viciously.
"Almost hurt me!? You tricked me and tried to strangle me to death! I can't believe you even came up to me after something like that!" She said, words cutting into him mercilessly.
"But, Sun Shang Xiang, I didn't even know what I was doing, it wasn't really me, the -"
"You never should have let him take over then! I thought you actually cared about me, but I was seriously wrong." She said, throwing looks of daggers.
"But I do, very much so!" He said kneeling hopelessly beside.
"Quiet! I don't want to hear your excuses! Get away from me!" She said, a strange fear growing in her eyes. Her voice was high and whiney and held a hint of sorrow.
"But, Su -"
"GET AWAY OR I'LL SCREAM!" She wailed, standing up. Sima Yi stood up rigidly as well and seized her hand before she could escape.
"Just give me a chance to explain! Please, I never wish for harm to come upon you, just let me expl-" An earsplitting screech rang through the air as Sun Shang Xiang fought to get away. Sima Yi released his grip and fell back. Sun Ce came blasting out of a nearby tent, closely followed by Da Qiao.
"What's wrong, Sis?" He asked worriedly.
"Help me, brother, Sima Yi is attacking me!"