Disclaimer (for throughout the whole of this fic)- I do not in any way own Koei or Dynasty Warriors.I do not own the characters, just the story.
A/N- This is my second fic that I'm working on. I don't use history much in my stories but I will add some little facts. Even if you don't like the GN/SSX pairing you may like it as it's not a Wu based fic like my other. I'm trying to include all 3 kingdoms in some way or another. This chapter is a little short as it's just the introduction part setting the scene- other chapters will be longer. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! (and no plagiarists please, I've just dealt with one, and I don't want to have to deal with another!)
Chapter One: The Chase
The horse galloped with all of its strength as it sped through the thick dense forest, the speed so great knocking down everything in it's path. Branches snapped as it raced past the tall trees, causing several browned autumn leaves to fall on the ground. The twigs crunched on the forest floor as the horse's hooves stomped on them grinding them down into the soil, and the cool air rushed through the horse's mane. The horse was not being chased- it was in hot pursuit. The owner was sat atop the horse holding on as tight as possible as his jet-black mare raced into the distance ahead. The fire burned bright in the man's eyes as he fixed his gaze ahead trying to look for the object he was so desperately after. Time was quickly running out and he needed to stop that carriage. There was no way that he was going to let her leave him on his own. He needed her more than anyone would ever know, but instead of telling her this he merely kept his feelings bottled up inside him, too scared to reveal them to anyone. What would they all think of him once they found out about this?
It was far too risky- the girl's father was overprotective of her and also it would be too dangerous to ruin the plan especially after all of the continuous days, weeks and months of preparations. To ruin them now would mean hell between Wu and Shu, and no one wanted to miss out on such a great opportunity as an alliance. It seemed like the only way that Cao Cao would be vanquished, but was it morally right to offer someone in marriage to seal an alliance? The man had been deeply angered by Zhou Yu's proposals of sending Sun Shang Xiang, the daughter of Sun Jian, to Shu in order for her to marry Liu Bei the Shu emperor. He felt that Shang Xiang didn't deserve to end up with a man like Liu Bei. Sure he seemed virtuous and noble, but he would never be able to love her. She deserved someone better than that. It was hard to accept that the plan was going ahead, but it was even harder to watch her leave. Everyone had lined up outside the Wu castle to bid her farewell- the Qiao sisters were in tears and weeping into their husbands' chests, and even Sun Jian let out a tear of sadness.
What would become of Wu without Sun Shang Xiang? She was their ray of sunshine on the battlefield, the laughter on an otherwise boring day, and she made the man feel that battles were worth fighting. He had tried not to cry as he watched his best friend disappear into the carriage- he had promised her he'd be strong and he rarely broke a promise. Just two hours had passed before he realised that he couldn't go on without her. Without her he had nothing left. No one to spar with, share problems with, or even play pranks on the other generals with. They shared the same sense of humour and their personalities matched. He was wild and rebellious and so was she. She enjoyed adventure and going to battle- yet another similarity between them. But more recently he had felt that there was more than shared interests between them.
It was hard to describe the way he felt whenever she was around. His heart beat would increase to the point where he felt he was going to pass out, he'd get nervous when the conversations got serious, and he would even find himself daydreaming as she spoke in her beautiful voice. No he'd never felt like this before in his entire life, but he soon realised that it was a good feeling. His heart felt as warm as a log fire and when it felt like this he felt content. The fact that Wu was at war was completely forgotten as he thought about the vivacious Wu princess and all the time that they'd spent together. His feelings were too strong to just throw away and deep down he knew that he had to tell her. Tell her how much he was really going to miss her, how much she meant to him, and how much he loved her…
As the horse turned around a smooth corner the carriage became visible, the roof just about showing between the leaf covered trees. The man kicked the side of his horse, encouraging it to speed up. The horse, being a battle horse, was much faster than the carriage and he knew that it would catch up- it just had to. Gan Ning wasn't going to let Sun Shang Xiang go that easily…
If you liked this chapter, review please! If you didn't, I'd be really grateful if you could leave a review saying why you didn't like it so then I can try and improve it in future. I'm working on the second chapter already, so expect an update soon! TN