Time for yet another chapter. Getting behind in updating most of my fics… Sorry. I seem to have once again lost my inspiration (or Bob, for those of you who know what I'm talking about. Heh.) and now must once again force myself to write, or at least that is the case for most of my fics. Anyway, well… not really a whole lot to say here, so let's get on with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors.
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CHAPTER 18 START
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It had now been about three months since the army had returned from taking over Luo Castle. This meant that there was now only about a month or so left until Yue Ying's baby was born. Pang Tong's wounds had healed for the most part and he was back to roaming the castle and playing random pranks on an unsuspecting person he could find. Zhuge Liang was back to making plans for upcoming battles and studying from his books. There still wasn't much for Yue Ying to do, so most of the time she was just walking around the castle or reading occasionally.
One day while she was walking around, she opened up one of the many doors of the castle and was greeted by a bucket of water pouring on top of her head. Looking very annoyed, she turned her head up to look at the bucket and followed the rope that held it with her eyes, knowing that it would lead to the person who had pulled it. Eventually, her eyes found their way down to the prankster, who had been hiding behind a bunch of crates, but had now stepped out from his hiding place.
"Sorry about that," said Pang Tong, probably grinning sheepishly underneath the cloth that covered his face. "I really didn't mean to get you with that."
"I am sure you did not," snorted Yue Ying, who began trying to wring out her drenched hair.
"No, I'm serious! I didn't mean to! I meant to hit one of those annoying maids! She usually comes through that door around this time. I thought she was you, really!" Yue Ying just nodded her head and walked back out of the door, heading now towards her own room to dry off. Pang Tong ran out and followed her, taking off his hat and the cloth so that they wouldn't be blown off in his hurry.
"Wait a minute! Please don't tell Zhuge Liang that I was the one who did that! He'll kill me if he finds out!" he pouted, trying to make her feel sorry for him.
"Oh? And what am I supposed to tell him if he is in the room when I go in? That I fell in the pond? Or in a maid's washing tub while she was washing clothes?"
"Yes! That is exactly what you should tell him! Err… Anyway, so, are you going to tell him about what I did?"
"Only if he asks about it," replied Yue Ying, now starting to walk up the stairs.
"Good enough. He will probably be in the library by this time. Though, with my luck, this one day he will be in his room…" Pang Tong muttered before going back downstairs, most likely to find a way to pull a prank on the maid he had been trying to get before.
Yue Ying reached her room and opened the door. Just as Pang Tong's luck was, Zhuge Liang was sitting at his desk. When he saw her, he stood up, staring at her wet clothes. He looked up at her face with a questioning look in his eyes.
"What happened to you?" he asked, grabbing a towel and walking over to give it to her. She took the towel and began to dry her face off.
"Thank you. It was just a little prank that Pang Tong played…"
"What? He did what? Urg… He shall pay…" Zhuge Liang gritted his teeth. Yue Ying laughed at his anger and held him back as he started towards the door.
"No no! It is okay. He did not mean to do this to me. He was after one of the maids and mistook me for her. He really did not mean anything by it." Zhuge Liang stared at the door for a few more seconds before turning around.
"Fine. Let us get you dried off, then," he said, walking back over to where he had gotten the last towel and grabbed more of them. "But I swear I will kill him if you get sick because of this."
x-x-x
Another two weeks after that incident, Yue Ying and Zhuge Liang were out in the courtyard. Fall had already come and was almost gone, and the weather had now began to turn into the cold Winter. Ying was sitting on one of the benches and watched as Pang Tong ran around the area. He was probably trying to find a way to hook up a new prank somewhere nearby. Apparently, the maid he had been trying to trick had somehow not yet found any of the ones he had put out for her, so he was trying again. Zhuge Liang was pacing up and down the stone pathway, though the reason why was unknown to Yue Ying. He looked a little bit nervous… Perhaps he was once again thinking of the baby? Or, it may have been that he was just thinking about the upcoming battle and the nervousness was just her imagination.
Pang Tong ran by once more, carrying some things which he was hiding underneath his robes. He looked like he was in a hurry to set up whatever it was he had planned.
"I wonder exactly what he is up to? I mean, I know that he is planning a prank, but I wonder what it is…" said Yue Ying as he ran past again to go and find more materials. Zhuge Liang stopped pacing and turned around to watch Pang Tong.
"Who knows? He always comes up with the strangest ideas." He walked over to the bench that Yue Ying was sitting on and sat down himself.
"I do hope he gets that maid soon… Maybe he will stop setting up so many pranks if he did. I have already walked into three of them," commented Yue Ying. Zhuge Liang nodded.
"Yes, and I have already walked into seven of them. He always seems to try and play his tricks in places that I always go to. It is really getting quite annoying." Pang Tong ran by again, although this time he wasn't trying to hide anything. He had come empty handed, and… empty robed, as he had been hiding things under there. He waved at the two as he ran past and continued on down to the pond, which was beginning to freeze a little due to the cold.
"I hope he is not planning to somehow make the maid fall in the pond… It is much too cold for that sort of thing. She could get ill," Yue Ying said as she watched him disappear behind some trees and bushes.
"There is no cause for concern. I am sure that Pang Tong would not try anything like that in this type of weather. He knows he could get in trouble for harming someone due to one of his pranks. He could even get in trouble for them even if he did not harm anyone. All that he would have to do is just pull a prank on the wrong person and he could find himself in a dilemma." As they were talking, a maid walked past them, carrying a pot. She seemed to be going to the pond to fill the pot up with water, if she could find some that was not frozen.
"I am guessing that is the maid that Tong is trying to trick… Or, should I say, that I hope it is the one he is trying to trick," said Liang dryly.
"Yes… Well, I suppose we shall find out soon." Part of the pond was visible from where they were sitting, but the maid disappeared into the part that they could not see. "Darn… Well, perhaps we shall hear soon, then."
"Hmm… This might be interesting. I think I will go down to a bench over there and watch," said Zhuge Liang as he stood up and began walking over in that direction.
"Since when have you been interested in his pranks?" She called out to him. He replied with only a shrug. "Oh well. Nothing else to do around here right now," she muttered and stood up to follow. Both sat down on the bench which allowed them to see the entire pond. From their vantage point, they could even see Pang Tong in his hiding place. He was crouching behind some bushes, watching the maid carefully. The unknowing suspect was still walking a bit away from the bank of the pond. Suddenly, she tripped on something that was in between two large trees. She fell down and dropped the pot, which by some odd luck didn't break. Looking around, she stood up slowly and picked the pot back up.
"Ahh… I see. He put up a wire there for her to trip on. That cannot have been all of it, though. There must be more," noted Liang. He nodded as he saw Pang Tong mess around with a rope while the maid was still turned towards the still unseen wire that she had tripped on. Flying out of one of the trees came what appeared to be a snake, though it was really only just another piece of knotted rope that Tong had cleverly decorated. The "snake" fell down to the ground right behind the maid, who was still looking in the opposite direction. To try and get her to look down at it, he began to make hissing noises, which really didn't sound like a snake at all, but the maid had never heard one before, so it didn't matter. She turned around, looking still at the ground. Ying couldn't see her facial expression since her face was turned, but she was sure that the maid's eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and fear. After a few seconds, the maid finally broke out of the shock and screamed, throwing the pot she carried at the "snake" before she ran away as fast as her long dress and sandals could carry her.
Pang Tong, still hiding behind the bushes, was rolling around in uncontrollable laughter. Yue Ying was chuckling a bit from her bench. It really was quite humorous if you thought about it. Zhuge Liang just smiled a bit at it, but you could tell that he found the prank amusing as well. Finally, Pang Tong got control of himself, although he was still laughing a bit. He noticed the two of them sitting on the bench and walked over.
"Hello, guys! Did you see my wonderful trick? I finally got that stupid bit-… I mean, maid. I've been waiting forever to get back at her!"
"What exactly was it that she did to you?" asked Yue Ying. 'It takes a lot for Pang Tong to want revenge on you…' she thought.
Pang Tong shrugged. "She messed up my favorite robe while she was washing it. Somehow she managed to put a giant hole in it."
'Did I say it took a lot for him to want revenge…?' She grinned at the short man, but just then, there was a sudden sharp pain in her stomach and her grin contorted into that of a slight frown.
"Something the matter?" asked Pang Tong, tilting his head to the side. Zhuge Liang turned his head and looked over at her.
Shaking her head, she answered, "No… Nothing is wrong." If the baby was coming now, which was a possibility, it would be best not to worry everyone. Besides, it would probably still be a long time before there was even a need to call the midwife. "Well, I think I shall be going back up to our room," she said, turning to face her husband, who nodded. She stood up and walked back off towards the castle…
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CHAPTER 18 END
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Sorry that this chapter was sort of weird. I wanted to get in one more chapter before Ying had her baby, so… I just sort of drew things out with a bunch of random things.
zhugeliangsgrl - Alrighty then...! Thanks for reviewing!
MsSleepingDragon - Hiya! Thanks for reviewing, yes! Yeah! Yet another Zhuge fan!
Tdino - Yup, 'tis good indeedy that I did not kill him off. Hehe. Thanks for reviewing!
KiBladez - Hiya! Thanks for reviewing! I don't know when or if you will see this since you only reviewed the first three chapters, so I am unsure if you have gotten this fair. Anyways, to answer the question, nope. I don't have the RoTK television series.
