Thank you for the reviews. Now since I have a thesaurus, I hope this chapter will sound much better. By the way, the story will be progressing now, no more flashbacks. Nothing to say except, enjoy.
Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors and KOEI, yeah.
Chapter 3: Qio Shi, the Strange
The sun was high in the sky when Tao Wan woke up from his long slumber. He rubbed his eyes, focusing on the landscape. It was nearly summer when Tao Wan left Yian Xi's village. He lost all sense of time when he was there.
Birds chirped a rhythmic melody while soaring through the sky. Using his spear as support, Tao Wan got up from the patch of grass that he was sleeping in and stretched out his arms and legs.
"I should really find a better place to sleep," he said to himself.
He started to sprint down the road toward the East. It would take Tao Wan at least two days to get to his destination on foot. His speed was slow, but sufficient. Ahead of him stood three men, their hands ready to unsheathe their swords. They blocked Tao Wan's path, forcing him to stop.
"Well boys, look what we have here," the leader of the bandits chuckled over-confidently. "He would make a fine addition to our collection." The other two sneered.
A small sobbing echoed from the nearby trees. Behind them, a helpless woman laid on her side. Bruises and scratches covered her body while her clothes were tattered and torn. Her long black hair covered one of her hazel colored eyes. Her body was small and thin, as if she hadn't eaten for weeks. She looked as if she was nearly as tall as Tao Wan. "Please help me," she begged.
One of the bandits rushed to her and punched her on the cheek. The force of it left her lying on the ground, head turned away from Tao Wan. "Shut up, slave," the bandit demanded while returning to his comrades.
"Unforgivable," Tao Wan said to the bandits. "I wanted to just teach you guys a lesson for treating a woman like that, but you just went to far." Anger rose inside of Tao Wan and he gripped his spear tighter.
"A tough guy huh?" the leader taunted while unsheathing his sword. The other two followed his actions. Foolishly, the leader ran toward Tao Wan ready to attack. With a quick thrust at the bandit's exposed chest from the blunt end of his spear, Tao Wan sent him flying back toward his men. He landed on his back grabbing his chest in pain while trying to support himself on one knee. The other two bent down and helped lift their captain up.
Tao Wan walked past them, threatening to kill the three of them with his spear if they got to close. The woman struggled to get up. Tao Wan bent down and offered his hand to help her and she excepted. He pulled her up to her feet.
"You bastard," one of the two men cried out. Tao Wan turned around and saw that they both had their swords out, ready to attack. Their arms shook nervously.
"A challenge?" Tao Wan asked, taunting them. The two bandits tightened their grip on their swords.
With a sigh, Tao Wan dropped his spear and unsheathed his two blades. They flinched as Tao Wan came rushing at them. With one slash of his small blades, he cut one of their swords in half and followed up with a swift kick to the bandit owner's head, forcing him to crash into his comrades. All three of them stumbled on the ground. The woman stared at Tao Wan and his fierce way of combat.
Feeling more bloodthirsty, Tao Wan jumped onto one of the bandits, stabbing him in the chest with both of his blades.
"This is for hurting that woman," Tao Wan whispered to him. Fear shone in the bandit's eyes as Tao Wan leaped off of him into the air. While still airborne, he threw his blades at the bandit, piercing his arms and pinning him down. "The sad thing is, you all will be dead by the time I am done."
Tao Wan grabbed his spear from the ground and walked back over to the bandit. He stabbed the spear into the bandit's midsection, killing him. The other two were still knocked out on the ground.
He returned to the woman's side blades in their sheaths and the spear in his hand.
"I suggest that you run away or cover your eyes. It will get gruesome," he warned her.
Foolishly, one of the other bandits charged at Tao Wan sword raised. "I will kill you," he yelled out.
In a blink of an eye, Tao Wan released his spear and brandished his blades. He stabbed the bandit slowing his speed, before ripping a gash in his stomach. Blood splattered everywhere as the bandit stopped. Tao Wan spun on the ball of his foot and dealt a finishing uppercut to the bandit's jaw, forcing him into the air and landing with a thud on the ground. He lay in a pool of his own blood.
"Two down, one to go," Tao Wan said while walking over to the bandit leader. He picked him up by the collar of his shirt and held him by the neck, threatening to slit his throat. "Now, I will ask you some questions, and if you want to live, you better answer them." The leader nodded his head.
Tao Wan asked him about the fire in his village to see if they had any connections of information about it. When the bandit leader refused to answer, Tao Wan poked at his vulnerable throat forcing him to relinquish the information.
"Thank you for the information, but its too bad for you," Tao Wan whispered into his ear. The bandit opened his eyes wide at the thought of himself being killed. "I don't show any mercy to people like you," Tao Wan said before pressing the blade closer onto his neck.
"Hey, wait, please, no!" The leader desperately grabbed Tao Wan's arm trying to free himself but it was too late. With a desperate cry for help he fell to the floor, blood rushing out for his neck. The woman looked at the blood soaked Tao Wan with gratitude in her eyes.
Tao Wan walked over to her.
"Thank you," she said while bowing on her knees.
"Don't need to thank me. I couldn't leave such a beautiful maiden alone to fend for herself." She stood up and blushed, not noticing that there was blood on her lip. "You're bleeding," Tao Wan pointed out to her.
She touched her lip and was surprised that she was. Tao Wan tore off one of his sleeves and handed it to her. She dabbed it onto her lip, then put it into her pocket.
"Where are you headed?" he asked her. She looked surprised as he spoke.
"…Jiang Dong," she said before sprinting off down the road. Surprisingly, she was fast for one so skinny.
"Hey wait!" the confused general yelled out. "What is your name?"
She slowed to a stop and turned to look at Tao Wan. "Qio Shi!" she responded before running off again.
With a sigh, Tao Wan strolled back onto the road and headed toward Jiang Dong, continuing his search.
Sorry if this chapter didn't turn out great. It tried to write it nearly exactly like my first one, so yeah. Not really much to say, except thanks for reading. By the way, I am planning on adding another OC character but I have run out of ideas. If anyone has any ideas, then please add it into your review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Please include every detail about them, looks, personality, what weapon they use, that kind of sort. I need a lot of ideas, but I will only pick one. Tan Xian will be in the next one, so she will be staying.
