Disclaimer- I do not own Koei or Dynasty Warriors.

Ok so this may be a little late, but I've been trying to deal with something. Someone on another fanfiction site stole this fic and claimed it was theirs. They stole the first chapter and now I'm battling to get it taken down. I can't stand theft, whether it's Internet based or not. It just shouldn't happen. So if you see a copy of this out there and it's not under the name TotallyNuts (or my message board name SunShangXiang) then it's a stolen version. I dedicate this chapter to everyone who's been there to help me, especially HarborRat and lacitar13- you guys have been the greatest!

So ends my little rant- I'll keep you posted on the progress of the case. Enjoy the chapter! ..

The song in here you will recognise as the Dynasty Warriors 3 Ending theme- I've used the Chinese Mandarin Romanised lyrics. Try singing them- they're exactly as they are in the game! I thought the song would fit in, and all DW fans know it! By the way, I don't own it so here's another disclaimer-the song is copyright Koei not me. Bye bye lawyers...

Chapter 8- Lets Get This Party Started pt 2

Gan Ning lit up a lamp in the store cupboard using one of Lu Xun's many matches and walked over to one of the many crates that were in there. The Wu stores were full of explosives and weapons- they were never short of these! In one corner was all of the spare swords and armour that was used in battle and for sparring, and in the other corner of the room were the crates full of matches, fireworks and extra supplies. There were also several rolled up maps lying all over the floor- Ning had to step over these in order to get to the hidden firework box near the window.

Taishi Ci had hidden them near the window so that Sun Jian wouldn't find them and keep them for himself. These fireworks were special though- when set off they created fluorescent glittering dragons in the sky, as well as tigers and mystical creatures that seemed to merge into one another. The Wu generals had used them at New Year but hadn't used them all. Most of the generals had ended up too drunk to even remember how to light one! Gan Ning looked in the box and when he saw the explosives carefully labelled and ordered he smiled and picked it up. He started walking back towards the door when he heard an unfamiliar sound. He stopped and tried to hear it again. It was sobbing. Female sobbing…

"Hello?" he called out as he put the box on the ground. He scanned the room with his eyes but couldn't see anyone. He heard another sob and decided to walk around in the hope of seeing the person. Ning was near a stack of helmets when he saw Sun Shang Xiang crying in between two boxes of maps. "Shang Xiang?"

Shang Xiang wiped some of her tears away and looked up at him. Her face was a little bit red and tear stained so she quickly hid it behind her hands after her eyes met his. "Leave me alone," she said quietly. "Please, just go…"

"You're not even going to tell me what's wrong?" Ning stepped over the crate and knelt next to her. Of course he didn't want to see one of his closes friends upset like this. He sighed when she shook her head. "Shang- you can tell me- I'm your friend and I care about you. So, what's the matter?"

She looked up at him. "They made fun of me for wearing a dress." She pointed down at the floor length red dress she was wearing. "No wonder I don't wear them- they always make such a big deal and I look bad."

Gan Ning took a look at her. Why did she think she looked bad? She looked like a woman in the dress and it flattered her greatly. In fact, the pirate was starting to think she looked quite cute! "You don't look bad Shang, you look beautiful. And anyone who says you aren't is wrong."

Shang blushed when she heard the word 'beautiful'. She'd never considered herself to be beautiful- she had always thought that women like the Qiaos were beautiful. She smiled at Ning. "Thank you," she said , and wiped the last of the tears away. "How did you find me?"

"I was getting some fireworks and…"

"Fireworks? We're not having fireworks Xiao said."

Ning chuckled. "That's what she said, but do I listen to her? Xun, Ci and I are having a party of our own in the courtyard." He took another look at the Wu princess. "You're welcome to join us if you don't feel like going back in the hall- you can be my 'guest' if you like!" He saw Shang Xiang smile and nod, so he stood up and offered his hand to her. He helped pull her up and then went back to the box.

Shang looked at the assortment of explosives. "These are the ones from New Year! Do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do! No party is complete without fireworks!"

"……Hua di wei lao, Shi ji shang pi lao, Zhuang zhuo wu suo wei…" Zhou Yu sang drunkenly on the stage. He was singing in slurred Chinese and it seemed that only the also drunk Sun Ce could understand.

"…Bu lou chu si hao, Gu li de rong mao, Xiang shou ming yun an wei…" Sun Ce sang his line loudly and proudly, making sure the whole room heard.

"…Pai huai ren sheng zi wei, Wei lai can ran guang hui…" sang Zhou Yu as he lifted his now empty 5th glass in the air. He didn't care that he was making a complete ass of himself- he wasn't even too sure of where he was! He and Sun Ce carried on singing in Chinese, missing out odd words and replacing them with slurs. The Qiaos were clapping and cheering them on, especially Xiao, who was rather enjoying the sight of her normally uptight husband fooling around and having a laugh.

"…Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li

Wei ruo de mai bo he peng pei de dan hun

Kai tuo chu, Sheng lu yong wang wu wei

Ji mo shi fen, Ru meng de cun qian, Quw ren zi wo shi jie

Wu guang liang zhong, Miao hui de jing xiang, Reng hui fu xian yen qian

Wan shi jie you ding su, Xiang xin wei lai wu xian

Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li

Hua er wei ni kai fan yue guang wei ni zhao liang

Kai tuo chu sheng lu zhi qian wu wei

Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li, Mei you in wei, Mei you in wei, Mei you in wei."

When the music stopped everyone in the banquet hall cheered and applauded the drunk general and strategist. One group of officers were chanting their strategist's name and banging on the tables, and another group were throwing roses at him! To be honest they were impressed by Zhou Yu's singing 'talent'. It was amazing what a man could do when he was drunk! Zhou Yu started to bow to his now very pleased audience but the alcohol was going to his head. As he bent over he felt his legs just go and he fell over and straight off the stage. Sun Ce just casually looked down at his sworn brother and smiled.

"Nice trip?" he asked jokingly. Zhou Yu simply raised his hand and made a thumbs up sign just as Xiao Qiao rushed over to help him.

"Zhou Yu?" she asked frantically hoping he wasn't too badly hurt. "Are you alright? Say something!"

"Oh I'm fine!" he said covering up the fact that he was now in slight pain. He had fallen flat on his face and it was starting to hurt! "Really, I'll be okay! I just need another drink…" He got up and stumbled over to the table. He grabbed a bottle of wine and poured himself yet another glass. Sun Jian and Huang Gai looked worryingly at each other- the Wu kingdom was doomed if Zhou Yu became an alcoholic! All their clever and well thought out strategies… gone! They just hoped (and prayed!) that Xiao's little plan would be a one off for the sake of Wu…

Da Qiao sat her husband down and tried to make him eat something in the hope that it would soak up some of the alcohol he had gulped down. Sun Ce was famed for being quite the party animal, but this time she was slightly relieved that he had sung a slow song rather than a faster one. The last time a fast one was played at a party he tried dancing and tripped over some curtains, and ended up with concussion after he crashed into the musicians and their instruments! Ce refused the food and instead started 'talking' to his brother…

"So Quannie!" Ce started. "How's my favourite lil bro? Still being his boring old self?"

Quan stared at his brother. He expected this- Ce normally started drunk conversations with anyone was sitting close enough. "Yes I'm fine Ce." Just basic answers- Quan didn't want to mess with Ce when he was drunk. Arguments could easily end up in duels…

"Good good! As long as you're fine that's all that matters!" Ce patted his brother quite hard on the back. "So… found a wife yet?"

Quan was about to answer that question with his usual 'no' response but a loud noise came from the courtyard.

"KABOOM!"

"What was that?" Xiao said as she huddled close to Zhou Yu who was now slouched over the table in a half-asleep state.

Sun Jian stood up and unsheathed his sword. "It could be an attack and we are not prepared. Just look at our strategist!" He pointed with his blade towards Yu (who was murmuring something in his sleep) and continued. "Zhou Tai, Lu Meng- go and investigate. I will join you shortly. Call us if you need reinforcements, but it's coming from the courtyard so you should be fine." Zhou Tai and Lu Meng got out of their seats, grabbed their weapons and made their exit, leaving everyone else to try and guess as to what the noise was…

"That was a big one!"

Sun Shang Xiang's face lit up with delight as she watched the fireworks explode in the sky. The fact that the night sky was very dark made them even more impressive.

"I'm glad you like them!" Ning said as they sat on the grass with Taishi Ci watching as Lu Xun set the fireworks off. Being the Wu pyromaniac he was in charge of all things flammable. It was impossible to separate that boy from his matches!

"Are you sure you don't want a drink Shang?" Taishi Ci offered his flask of wine to her but she declined politely. Ci shrugged his shoulders and took a large gulp of the drink. Chilling out outside was definitely better than staying inside. Fireworks, stars in the night sky, friends… what could be better?

Shang Xiang smiled as more fireworks went up in the air and exploded in the night sky. She watched as a red tiger pounced and came towards her but vanished in a scatter of sparks, and a green dragon flew in between the stars. It was beautiful… She had thought that her night was getting off to a terrible start- she thanked the gods that Gan Ning had found her. She hadn't wanted to spend the whole night hiding in a cupboard crying. It wasn't like her to cry- she was strong and she always had been, but she had felt so awkward in the dress, with the comments just adding to that feeling. At least Ning had made her feel better. He always did- the ex-pirate was just full positive energy, always making everyone else feel happy. It was fun spending time with him and she hoped he felt the same. He never complained about hanging out with a girl…

"What is going on here?"

The four all turned around and saw Zhou Tai and Lu Meng approach from behind. They saw a firework go up and explode, so they turned their heads towards the troublesome ex-pirate.

"Can you explain all of this Ning?" Tai asked as he looked at the box.

"We're just having some fun!" Ning replied as he showed his fellow ex-pirate the flask of wine. He hadn't drunk much- he didn't want to set a bad example towards Shang Xiang. It wasn't as if that would've made a difference anyway- she had seen him totally out of his head many times before!

"Poor Sun Jian thinks that we're being invaded!" Meng continued. "You guys are supposed to be indoors with the party!"

"That was boring!" Ci raised his flask. "This is much more fun don't you agree Shang Xiang?"

"Yeah- it's a lot better than being made to feel stupid!" She pointed at the dress. "I hope they feel proud of what they did."

"I'm not sure- your brother's had too much wine as usual, and Zhou Yu is completely wasted."

Ci, Ning, and now Lu Xun who had stopped setting the fireworks alight, raised their eyebrows. Zhou Yu was drunk? Normally Yu only had one glass of the weaker wine just to try and fit in, but he wasn't a fan of it. How had he managed this?

"Xiao gave him wine with extra alcohol in it to make him get drunk. Apparently she wanted him to have fun." Zhou Tai put his sword back in it's sheath. "And it worked to perfection."

"Has he done anything stupid yet?" Shang Xiang asked.

"He sang a song with Sun Ce on stage and then fell off- I think he's recovering now. But I think after his little nap he'll be up and joining Sun Ce again!" Tai sighed. "Well, I suppose Meng and I had better go back and calm your father down. He thinks that Wei are invading…" Tai and Meng turned back to walk into the castle, but to their (and everyone else's) surprise, Zhou Yu ran out screaming something.

"Death to Wei!" he called out as he ran across the lawn brandishing his sword. They noticed that he wasn't wearing anything on top… luckily he was wearing trousers! Wu's reputation would be tarnished if news got out that their strategist was a streak!

Soon afterwards Xiao Qiao ran out carrying Zhou Yu's robe. She started to chase after him. "Please put it back on- you'll catch a cold!" she cried as she ran. Shang, Ning, Ci, Xun, Tai and Meng couldn't help but laugh at the comical scene. It was a pity that Zhou Yu wasn't like this everyday… thank goodness for alcohol!

Good chapter?I wouldn't know- I rely on reviews to tell me that! Reviews please! And stay happy! Also if the thief is reading this- don't think about stealing anymore of my work. Messing with me is the last thing you want to do right now...