A/N: A special thanks to Lynn12! My first and currently only reviewer! Don't you feel so honored?

From Lynn12: aw...its LING! i love it i want more! lol, please continue!
To Lynn: I'm glad you like it! You want more, I'll give you more! I shall not leave this one to die! I have mucho motivation for it! I, personally, think there are NOT enough fanfics staring Ling! But have no fear! Once this one is done, I shall make a sequel starring him! His little bit of fame from me will not leave! Muahahahahahaha! Ahem... To the story, nyeh?

The sun slowly crept into the twilight sky, its dim light reflected off the form of a sleeping, curled up, Ling. His armor was piled neatly beside him, he stirred only slightly, but did not awaken.

Ling had just came in when the pound of drums began, his mother, who rushed to the still open door looked terrified.

"Ling, stay inside."

She left swiftly after her order was given, closing the door behind her. Ling, who was smart enough to know that she'd not travel far from the door and he would be caught if she heard the door squeak, went to a window behind the house and slipped out of it as skilled and stealthy as a feline. Silently he circled the house, sneaking into hearing and seeing range undetected, hiding behind a statue; he peered out to see what was going on.

There was a rider clad in the uniform of an Imperial messenger, and it didn't look like he carried good news. The man, stilled mounted upon his horse, spoke down to his mother, handing her a long package.

"I'm sorry..."

That was all that the messenger said. Ling risked revealing himself as he leaned out from behind his hiding spot, straining to see what the package was as his mother unwrapped the cloth that was tight around it. The women gasped as she pulled out his father's sword. It caught the sunlight and gleamed valiantly as a hero's would. Ling's eyes widened as he finally realized what was happening. That was no valiant hero's sword, it was his father's, his dead father's. He sharply took in a breath, and forgetting the he was supposed to be hidden, yelled,

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

He jumped awake, his chest rising and falling swiftly as gasped and waited for his panic to subside, waiting for his memory to revive him to the present. His eyes darted everywhere; the sun was barely high, his armor still beside him. It was just a dream...

...or more like a memory. He shuddered, pushing it back until he could think properly once more. Sighing, he stood and again donned the armor over his robes and sword. Correction, his father's armor, robes, and sword. The same that were repaired and washed by his mother, the same that his father wore in battle, the same that he, himself may yet die in.

He checked the position of the sun, it wasn't late, he should still arrive in time. Slowly he trudged on, the hours stretched out before him longer than they should have. It felt like he was going in circles, except the landscape continually changed and became even more unfamiliar.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Ling heard the chatter of a few men. Lifting his line of vision from the ground, he got his first glimpse of the camp, only to be surprised to see he's one of the first new recruits there. Not that it really cheered him up, it made him wish even more that he had at least a few minutes more of sleep.

The rumble of the other men's voices had increased tremendously since that morning. Ling, who was garbed for training, had left the rest of his belongings in his tent. He forced himself to be optimistic, there wasn't much to it for him, all he had to do is think of how the ladies, whom had before slapped and even went so far as to mob him with shoes, would flock to his door. Of course, that always did the trick for him.

Suddenly he heard a voice calling his name, a nearly-forgotten-but-still-recognizable voice.

"Hey Ling! Wait up.!"

He peered behind him, a bit flabbergasted, but when he saw who it was he couldn't restrain the humongous grin the crawled across his face.

"Yao!? Never thought I'd see you again!"

Yao reached him, a lopsided grin on his face,

"What? They'd dare have a battle without me?" Yao suddenly noticed how much farther apart their heights were since the last time they had met, his grin dropped a little, was he going to be the shortest one here? "Growth spurt?"

Ling nodded his grin getting a slightly sarcastic edge to it, "Have you grown any since you were twelve?"

He regretted saying that as Yao punched his arm making him slam into a tree. Before he could do anything for revenge, a large man(vertically and horizontally) appeared behind Yao.

"Yao, chant with me."

He began a stream of words; Yao rolled eyes but following suit rather reluctantly.

"Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Ling again adorned his mischievous grin, but learning his lesson didn't say a word. He and Yao had met a long time back, Ling's family had decided that they needed a closer home to the Imperial City, since his father had just been promoted to General of the Imperial Army. They had stopped for a rest at Yao's hometown; as always, Ling took this opportunity to flirt with the girls....

A twelve year old Ling covered his face as the girls whacked him unmercifully with their left shoes, it wasn't the most cheerful memory he had of results with flirting, but it did have one positive thing about it.

Not wanting to hit any of the girls, he hadn't any idea of how to cease their attack. Every time he tried to escape one of the girls would trip him, then taunt, "You brought this on yourself you know."

The thing was, he DIDN'T know want he did wrong. Was it the "Hi Ladies?", or the mere fact that in attempt to make them like him, he did or said something to make them act like hornets? Whatever it was, he was doomed. Until...

"Hey!"

The girls ceased their battery, turning to the voice to glare and decide if he was worth beating-up, Ling took this chance to slip away, and succeeded. The girls, realizing who owned the voice became wide-eyed, a short boy with a black eye (man, he has had that for a long time...) gave them a malicious smirk. Pounding a fist in his other hand, he continued.

"I'm sure that you all would love being the testers of some new skills I've learned."

It sounded more of a growl than words; the girls hurried and ran off, fearing his wrath. As they all disappeared, the boy turned to observe Ling, as if trying to evaluate him. Finally, when Ling was getting tired of the follow the leader routine of stare, stare back, and so on, the boy spoke, his voice still imitating the growl.

"That was smart." Sarcasm oozed from his words like venom, and Ling tried to look like a worthy opponent as he assumed a battle position.

"Are you wanting a fight? I may be polite enough not to ruff up girls, but I can take you down any day; my father taught me all that I know!"

He was prepared for anything this guy threw at him, accept the one thing that he did. He laughed. Frowning Ling continued, "What? Don't think I can take you? Well watch this!" He imitated a complicated battle move he saw his father do, but tripped over his own feet in the process, falling flat on his face and causing another roar of laughter from the stranger. Aggravated, one thought scrolled across his mind, 'Nice, very nice, Ling. Just make him laugh harder at you!'

"I think that worm over there just ran for cover."

Ling propped himself up on his elbows, glaring(like one would if a friend was making fun of him) at the boy, the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them, "I'm working on it!" Which made the stranger laugh even harder. Mentally, Ling beat himself.

Then the stranger did something totally unexpected, he helped Ling up. Ling couldn't help but inquire,

"Weren't you going to beat me up or something?"

The boy shrugged,

"Yeah, but I won't right now."

Ling raised a solitary eyebrow as the boy continued,

"So, what did you do?"

"I... don't... know...."

"Well, tell me what happened then!"

Sighing Ling began his story, to avoid having to fight this guy.

"Well, those girls were selling melons, and I was, uh, lonely. So I went up to them and said 'Hi'. They returned my greeting, and trying to continue the conversation I said, 'I like your melons' the girl that was closest to me slapped me, for what, I don't know. Anyway, I said, "What? I just said I like your melons!" Then two girls slapped me this time! Then I went, 'Fine, I don't like your melons!" and they still slapped me. Finally, I told them, "Fine! I wasn't going to buy any anyway!" Then they said, 'They're not for sale! You pervert!' Then slapped me again, then I was about to leave and I said, 'I don't see what is so perverted about that! They're just melons!' Then they ran up to me and started hitting me with their shoes! I still don't know why—WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT?!"

The guy was doubled over laughing at the dumbfounded Ling, what was so funny?