Alrighty then, time for yet another chapter. I probably won't be updating anything as much as I have been once I get DW5, just to let you know. Okay, so anyways, I didn't really feel like writing a whole lot about the battle since Ying isn't in it and she is like the main character, or supposed to be anyways. There is a place where there is a short flashback of part of the battle, but that's it. Umm… Well, I didn't really know how long the battle would take, so I just said they were gone for a week. I hope that works.

Note: The flashback is in italics.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors, same as it always is.

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CHAPTER 17 START

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A week after Zhuge Liang had left for Luo Castle, Yue Ying was strolling around outside in the courtyard. More of the leaves had fallen from the trees as Fall began to draw nearer and they crunched under her feet as she walked. There wasn't really a lot of things to do anymore. She had given up on knitting about three days ago; it just wasn't her thing and it was quite a boring task. Something else she could have done was read, but, believe it or not, that was actually starting to get a little boring as well.

After walking around a bit more, she decided to walk over to the stables and visit that black stallion of hers that had carried her during Chi Bi. Pushing open the doors, she walked along the hall of stalls. Doing so reminded her of the bet that Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang had made. The loser of their little "battle" was to clean out the stalls. Seeing as neither had won, apparently the whole deal was forgotten because she had not heard anymore about it. She stopped and opened up the door to one of the stalls before walking inside.

"Hello, my old friend," she whispered to the stallion. Most generals tended to have many different horses to use, and therefore only named their favorites. This horse was her favorite, but she had never actually gotten around to naming it for some reason. "I suppose I really should give you a name… I shall call you Midnight, since the caretakers already gave it to you. Besides, you seem to like it well enough."

The stallion snorted and snuffled over his owner happily. It had been ages since the last time he saw her! He could tell that there was something different about her… But what was it? Oh, yes! That was it! He took his nose and gently nudged her stomach with it, wondering why it was bigger than it used to be. Yue Ying laughed at her horse and began to rub his head. He nickered softly and stretched his neck out so she could rub it as well. She picked up a nearby currycomb and began to brush him with it. This she did for a few minutes before she heard a commotion going on outside. Dropping the currycomb, she closed the door to Midnight's stall and exited the stable.

"Lady Yue Ying!" called out one of the servants who happened to be running by. "I have been looking for you! The army has returned from Luo Castle," he said, bowing to her. Yue Ying nodded and the servant ran off again. She looked around and decided to follow the group of people that all seemed to be heading towards the castle gates.

When she reached the gates, she stood at the sides with the others so that the army could pass through. The first to enter was, of course, Liu Bei. Following him were the generals and sub-generals that had gone along. Zhuge Liang was up near the front of the line, but she could see no Pang Tong anywhere. Zhuge Liang spotted her and noticed her worried look, so when he managed to catch her eye, he gave her a reassuring smile. Behind the generals came the soldiers, and bringing up the rear were the carriages and carts that those too wounded to either walk or ride a horse were carried in. The horses that belonged to the men that were carried, or who had died if that was the case, were led behind the carts. She could make out a short donkey amongst all the horses, knowing that to be Pang Tong's donkey, Daisy.

'Well, at least he is alive, judging from the smile Liang gave me. But… I wonder how badly injured he is?' thought Ying as the parade of the army went through. After it was all over, everyone just went off in their own directions. She walked over to Zhuge Liang who had just dismounted from his horse.

He nodded to her and said, "Well, I was unable to catch Pang Tong before he did something stupid. Fortunately, he did not get killed; although he is still wounded pretty badly. There is no need to worry about him, though. He is the type of man that does not die easily. We should be able to go see him soon. They are already beginning to move those injured out of the carriages. By the time I take my chest up to my room and unpack, I am sure that he will be back in his own room." Liang nodded to the servant who was carrying his chest for him and started walking off towards the castle doors. Yue Ying decided to go along with him since there wasn't anything else to do, and caught up with him.

"They are going to send him to his room instead of keeping him in the medical center where they can keep a watch on him?" she asked.

"Yes, he is injured pretty badly, as I said before. Still, they will most likely let him stay in his own rooms and just have a nurse to stay and watch him and a doctor to come in every once in awhile to check on him."

"…They are going to have a nurse stay with him? Alone? Is that a good idea?" Zhuge Liang shrugged and continued walking.

x-x-x

After Zhuge Liang had finished unpacking the chest, he and Yue Ying walked over to where Pang Tong's room was. As they got there, one of the doctors had just left it and was beginning to walk in the opposite direction. Liang cleared his throat to get the doctors attention. The man turned around and looked at him.

"Is it alright to go and visit Pang Tong yet?" he asked and the doctor nodded.

"Yes, it is alright to go and visit him. I left one of the nurses in there to watch over him and make sure he did not do anything stupid."

Zhuge Liang nodded in return. "Okay, thank you." The doctor turned back around and continued walking while Liang and Ying entered Pang Tong's room.

"Oh come on! You know you want to!" was the first thing they heard upon entering room. Pang Tong was lying in the bed and holding on to the nurse's arm. The nurse was looking very annoyed and was trying to gently pull her arm out of his grasp so that she would not hurt him. Zhuge Liang raised one of his eyebrows and Yue Ying coughed. Pang Tong looked over at them, still holding onto the nurse's arm.

"Huh? …Hello, guys! Don't you just hate it when you walk into the worst sounding parts of conversations?" He asked and then dropped the arm he was holding. The nurse backed away from him and crossed her arms, still looked slightly peeved.

"…Yes… What exactly was the conversation about before we walked in?"

"I was just asking the nurse to go down to the kitchen and get me some tea, but she didn't want to because she said the doctor told her not to leave me alone. Hey, I guess she can go get me some now, right? You guys are here, so she won't be going against her orders!" He grinned at the nurse, who sighed and walked out of the room, supposedly to go get the tea. "Wait… You guys didn't think I meant something else by that, did you?" he asked after she left.

"Well, when you walk into a room and hear 'Oh, come on! You know you want to!', that is certainly the first thing that comes to mind," said Yue Ying, trying to impersonate Pang Tong when she quoted him. She walked over to a chair near his bed and sat down. Zhuge Liang walked over and stood next to her.

"So, I myself did not hear the entire story of how you got wounded. Would you like to share?" he asked, looking at Pang Tong, who frowned.

"Oh, fine! I'll tell you. It all happened like this…"

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"Alright, men. We're here. All that we have to do now is run over that hill and take Luo Castle, am I right?" Pang Tong called out to his soldiers, who answered with a hearty, "Yes!"

"Let's get going then! Charge!" With that, everyone began charging up the hill. Pang Tong was riding Liu Bei's horse, Hex Mark, because his own donkey was not really suited for battle. Archers and other enemies were positioned on top of the hill. One of the enemy generals was also on top of the hill and saw the easily recognizable Hex Mark. Thinking it was Liu Bei and that it was a perfect opportunity to be rid of the Shu leader, he grabbed a bow and an arrow from one of the nearby archers. He aimed carefully to make sure he hit his mark, and then released the arrow. The arrow shot across the field and found it's target just as it had been shot to do. Upon being hit, Pang Tong stopped the horse and turned back around. This was no good. They would all be killed before they made it up there.

"Retreat! We have to get out of here!" he called out to his men. The enemy general, seeing him trying to flee, ordered all of the archers to shoot for him. Out of the who knows how many arrows, luckily, somehow only five managed to hit him. After getting out of the range of the archers and into the safety of some nearby woods, Pang Tong tried to dismount the horse, but ended up falling off instead. One of the arrows had gotten dangerously close to his heart, though it had turned out not to have gotten very deep; another arrow had gotten into his stomach; another into his back; and the last two had gotten into his left leg. A few of his soldiers helped him back onto Hex Mark and led the horse back to the main camp. Once they reached the camp, they found Zhuge Liang, who had just arrived to try and stop Pang Tong from leaving.

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"And I think that's all that you need to know about how I got wounded. Now, where is that nurse with my tea?"

"I see. So it was just a few arrows that grazed you then. I thought it was worse than that," said Liang.

"A few arrows! How would you like an arrow in your chest, stomach, back, and two in your leg?" Pang Tong said, outraged. "It might not sound like a lot, but it hurt like hell! Thank goodness they gave me that pain reliever stuff or I would still be groaning in pain."

"Which might have been a good thing… Would have stopped you from talking so much…" muttered Zhuge Liang, his voice so low that only Yue Ying could hear it. She grinned at his comment.

"What was that, Zhuge?" asked Tong.

"Hmm? I did not say anything. Your ears must be playing tricks on you, my old friend," Liang replied, smiling a little.

"What? Did you just call me old? I resent that! I am not old! Just because I'm thirty-two doesn't mean I'm old!"

"To you it may not be old, but to me that is ancient."

"Ancient!" sputtered Pang Tong. "I'm only ten years older than you, Zhuge!" At that moment, the nurse walked in carrying a tray that had a teapot and a few teacups on it. "Oh, look! The nurse is back, so you can just leave now, Zhuge!" Liang shrugged and began walking towards the door.

"What about me, Tong?" Yue Ying asked. "Do you want me to leave as well?"

"Ah. It doesn't matter. You can stay if you want, or you can go too. I still have the nurse to keep me company if you do leave." The nurse, who was setting the tray on a table, made a squeaking noise and knocked over one of the teacups.

"What's up with her?" Tong whispered to Ying, who laughed quietly.

"She probably just does not want to be left alone with you. I think I will stay a little longer to make her feel better."

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CHAPTER 17 END

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And that's the end of that chapter. I didn't think it was a very good chapter, but I always say this. I don't know. Whatever. I'll just shut up now.

zhugeliangsgrl - Aye matey… Why be I talking like a pirate? Eh. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing!

Tdino - Kill off Pang Tong? Never! I could never kill off Tongy… Maybe wound him, but never kill! Heh, anyways, thanks for reviewing!