[Author's Quickie: Whew. Another chapter has rolled out. I wonder how I keep them coming. At any rate, thanks to everyone who's been kind enough to review! I think there's about seven more chapters left... :P]

Disclaimer: No. And....no.

The Phoenix Project

Chapter Three: the Leveling

She stood her ground. Tired of running, and even more tired of letting fear and doubts take control of her, she stood there and blocked his side punch, dodged his kick, and parried his upper blows. When he feinted a left kick, though, and instead brought it around in a sweep, she found herself lying flat on her back, having had her legs cleared out from under her.

Digging for a footing, she barrel-rolled and got to her knees a few steps away, her teeth gritted in distress. I will not let him get the better of me, she swore, tightening her fist, I'll fight him as long as I need to... Deep in the back of her mind, she wondered how she had drawn down Zhang He's anger. Perhaps he was just a psychopathic bitch who had nothing better to do than to pick on girls. However psychopathic he seemed, however, Shang Xiang doubted this was the case. His anger is too focused--almost premeditated. Strange to say, it almost felt like he had come looking for her.

"You fight down to the end," observed Zhang He, looking at her with what seemed like appreciation. "Just like the rest of your family."

"Don't you dare talk about my family," she snarled, fury sparking in her eyes. "What the hell do you know about them?"

"All there is to know about them," he answered, the cold light glinting behind his black pupils. "You fight well, little Sun, but not well enough--and I shall take extra pleasure in knowing your brothers can do nothing once I am done with you--" He raised a hand to strike her, and instinctively she flinched, shutting her eyes and waiting for the inevitable blow.

It never came. Something had jumped out in front of her at the last second, throwing a long shadow over her crouching form. A voice from somewhere above her said coldly, "Touch her, and I swear to God I'll kill you."

Her head jerked up in surprise as she recognized the familiar voice. It was Zhao Yun. Dimly she registered a blur of fast-moving shapes and low grunting sounds as the two men fought each other, but her mind was focused on one thing--Zhao Yun had come to her rescue. Why? Was this the danger he had warned her of? Impossible. Then what was someone not telling her?

"You're not half so self-confident when your opponent's a man," Zhao Yun observed grimly as he slammed a fist into Zhang He's stomach and caught him unawares.

Zhang He leapt back, a hand clutching his stomach in pain. "Damn," he swore in a low voice, turning a toothy grin on Shang Xiang's stunned expression. "Looks like the infamous Zhao Yun has come to save you. You've had a close shave, little Sun. But this is not the end." He cocked his gaze back towards Zhao Yun, his eyes betraying a large part of his hatred. "Especially not for you." He turned and fled, disappearing around the next corner.

Zhao Yun watched him as he vanished, eyes narrowing at his unmistakable challenge. With a soft shake of his head, he turned around and bent down on one knee so that he could be at eye level with Shang Xiang. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked quietly, glancing at her with seriousness.

Swiftly she shook her head in response, wincing only slightly when he pressed a finger to her wrist. Zhang He had raked her with his fingernails when he grabbed for her arm; that man had a claw-like grip that left red streaks on her pale skin.

"Be grateful he didn't do more," Zhao Yun said, his voice low, "Zhang He's a dangerous man. He would have killed you. They shouldn't have left you alone."

"Who are you talking about? My brothers?" she asked him breathlessly, staring at him as she struggled to pull everything together. Somewhere in her chest, her heart began to beat quicker. "What does all of this mean?"

"You keep asking questions, but I can't answer them," he replied gently, letting go of her hand. He stood up to go, but she latched onto his arm and dragged herself up with him.

"No! Stop! You can't keep appearing out of nowhere and give me such cryptic sentences!" she burst out, knowing full well she was on the verge of throwing a temper-tantrum. "You have to tell me something, damn it! Zhang He says he knows my family--but I've never seen him before! And you, too! Who the hell are you? Why are you helping me?" The questions snapped off her lips one after another, and it seemed she couldn't stop them.

He shrugged off her hands, his voice suddenly cold. "I'm not helping you," Zhao Yun said flatly, though his eyes failed to meet her quizzical gaze. "And stay away from me, for your own good."

She bit down on her lower lip and ran after him, refusing to let him shake her off this time. She wanted answers, damn it, and she would get them. "If you're not helping me, why should you care what I do?" she asked, grabbing his hand again. "Tell me what I need to know! Please!" A desperate smile faltered on her lips, and she asked in a despairing voice, "You're my friend, aren't you?"

He stopped, staring at her in mingled fury and disbelief. There was something else in his eyes for a moment, too--something she couldn't quite place. Then his eyes dropped down and he refused to look at her any longer. He detached her fingers from his hand and shook his head. "Stay away from me."

"Why?"

"Because..." he said in a mere whisper, "I've killed before."

Shang Xiang heard a gasp--was it her own? All she knew was that her eardrums were ringing--her mind was spinning--her heart was throbbing. She sank to the ground in horrified silence, her eyes wide and unseeing. She perceived only dimly when Zhao Yun had left her--and, a few minutes later, that Lu Xun and the others had found her. She found arms around her, the white faces of Ce and Quan hovering over her, and Lu Xun tightly holding her hand, but behind her blank eyes there was nothing--

Nothing at all.

"So how is she?" Sun Ce stirred at Gan Ning's question, and he raised weary eyes to his friend's face. Beside him, Zhou Yu leaned back into the leather sofa and closed his eyes, tired out from the day's escapades. The six of them were sprawled out in the living room of the Sun mansion, after having cut the rest of the school day.

"She's in her room right now. Lu Xun's with her." Though he had barely answered his question, Ce felt that it was a struggle just to open his mouth. Emotionally, he was drained. Wei's underlings had seen to that. "She's still in a state of shock."

"I would be too, damn it, if I had someone attack me at school," Zhou Yu broke in angrily, his eyelids snapping open. "They've gotten too bold--and we've gotten too stupid. How could we have left Shang Xiang alone?"

"My fault," Ce groaned, throwing an arm over the back of the sofa, "I shouldn't have pulled Lu Xun with me. No doubt he's feeling that too right now. But how were we supposed to know Wei was creating a distraction?"

"They killed some freshmen just so that Zhang He could get to Shang Xiang..." Quan said quietly. "My God, we almost lost her today."

"Yeah. Luckily for us, we got there just in time." Ce rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, muttering as he did so, "Though I still don't know why Zhang He would just leave her in the path after having caught her alone." He shrugged, and seemed to dismiss the thought. "Shang Xiang said he just taunted her and then left."

"Not that she's saying much else," Quan commented gloomily. "I wonder how Dad's going to take this."

"How else? 'Not with a whimper, but a bang,'" Ce said dryly. "He's coming home right now. You can bet old Pop's gonna blow up when he hears it all. At us, mind."

"We deserve it," Quan insisted morosely. "We promised him we'd watch over her, remember? And you, running off to make out with your girlfriend..."

"Okay, okay, so that was my fault," Ce grumbled. "It won't happen again."

"We've got to look after her more carefully now," Zhou Yu said, fixing a stern glare at his friend.

"But how can we? That whole school's crawling with Wei minions," Ce said in disgust. "It's hard enough to keep her safe at home, never mind school. Yuan Shao, the stupid principal, has no backbone. It's his school, but it might as well be Cao Cao's for all he does with it."

"And Wei has more members than us." Zhou Yu sighed and rested his chin in his hands. "I hate to say it, but it seems we're going to have to resume night duties."

"Goody. You know how much I love those," Ce bit off sarcastically, "I always love risking my life in gang fights and coming home smelling like alcohol and blood."

"There's not much you can do about it," Quan said in a quiet voice. "Especially since you're taking over the business when Dad's gone."

Ce rolled over on his back and heaved a sigh. "Let's not talk about that right now." For a moment all of them were quiet, and then Ce broke the silence with a disturbing question. "Do you think she knows?"

They all jolted. "Who? Shang Xiang?" Ning asked incredulously. "No way. You've kept it a secret all her life, there's no reason why she should."

"She's...a lot smarter than you think," Ce said glumly, and he rubbed his temples in thought. "I don't want her to be caught up in this...this dirty business. I wish she could go to school like a normal girl. If she finds out about us...she'll do anything. Something impetuous. Something foolish."

"Shang Xiang will stick to the family," Quan said worriedly, trying for reassurance, "no matter what happens."

Ce let out a small laugh. "You know her just as well as I do, Quan. Shang Xiang has such a rigid sense of right and wrong... Remember three years ago? When she was just a skinny little fourteen-year old? When she saw that man slapping his wife in the streets, she rushed right over and pounded him into the dust. Damned if it didn't cause Dad a lot of trouble to hush it up secretly. And even then she was going to hand herself over to the police--because she thought it was the right thing to do."

"But that man was wrong to slap his wife--and we're..."

"We're not? Is that what you want to say? How much more wrong--not to mention illegal--can we get?" Ce said dismissively, waving a hand at his younger brother's words.

"We're not the only ones," Quan said with a pale face. "Wei...and Shu...if we don't step in, they'll crush all of us. It's self-preservation. It's for her own good, too."

"Survival of the fittest, huh?" Zhou Yu cut in, shaking his head. Their attentions were diverted for the moment as Lu Xun descended down the stairs and took a seat on the nearest armchair. His eyes were listless and his expression, drained.

"How's she doing?" Ce asked, trying to smile faintly and bring back a shred of his former self.

"She fell asleep. I didn't want to disturb her, so I came down after she did." Lu Xun sighed and sank into his chair, leaning his head back against the soft leather. "She's scared, Ce. She doesn't have any idea what's going on, and she's starting to suspect some things." He fixed Ce and Quan with a solemn, quiet look. "You should tell her."

"We can't," Ce said vehemently. "It's not going to do any good."

"It's not fair to her," Lu Xun said, his eyebrows drawn in concern.

"Life's not fair." With this cryptic sentence, they all fell silent once more.

The dying sunlight danced on the window panes, the evening breeze blowing open the curling linen drapes in playful amusement. Somewhere outside, a songbird chirped, and a squirrel chittered as it scurried down a drainpipe. The day passed on as if nothing had happened--gently, smoothly--ignoring the lives of those doomed to pass waking hours on this earth.

Inside her room, Sun Shang Xiang began to cry

[End notes: Waii! Big hints dropped here...though they're not really "hints". So where is all of this headed? Next chapter, coming next week! (Black Aura-Sama, I always look forward to reading your reviews...it's like the pinnacle of my day...in a way, I think you are exactly like me: way too obsessed with the DW world for our own good.)]