A/N- I'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter! So… here is the next one. More battle scenes in the next one I promise, plus I've just got a copy of RoTK so I can get things right XD Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Hear the Battle Cry

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, but one of the generals had not slept well at all. The excitement was there as usual, but that wasn't the reason why he couldn't sleep. Sun Ce put his sleeplessness down to the fact that his head was full of plans and ideas and he couldn't do anything about them until he was actually out there on the battlefield. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling, occasionally turning his head to see if the sun had come up yet. He could see the sky turn brighter and brighter and he expected one of the maids to give him his wake up call anytime soon. Throughout the night Ce found himself tossing and turning, trying his utmost best not to wake up the woman lying next to him, his precious wife Da Qiao. For the first couple of hours she had asked him in her sleepy tone of voice to try and get some sleep ready for the next day as he'd need all of his energy, but no matter what Ce did he found himself wide awake.

The early morning twitter of the first birds sounded at the window and Ce knew that if he couldn't sleep now he wasn't going to today. Carefully he manoeuvred himself out of the bed, recovering Da with the covers that he had accidentally taken with him. His battle attire was already hung on a corner of a changing screen so he grabbed them off and stood behind the screen to change into the red, gold and black clothing. He tied up his heavy boots and quickly tied his loose hair up before stepping out from behind the screen and walking over to a golden full length mirror to check on his appearance. Sun Ce stood up straight, trying to admire himself. He still looked half asleep but he felt ready for the task ahead of him. He wanted to fight for the sake of his family and for Wu, and this battle would show everyone exactly what he could do.

Sun Ce slowly walked over to where he had woken up and looked down to his wife, who was still sleeping peacefully. He didn't dare wake her up after the troubled night he had caused her, so he leant over to gently kiss her forehead. "I love you Da," he whispered before picking up his tonfas from the wall and quietly left the room.

He grasped the handles of his weapons tight as he made his way downstairs to the designated meeting point. No one was awake yet, so he assumed that everyone else had managed to get a peaceful night's rest. That was his conclusion until he saw his father sitting down as he popped his head around the dining room door.

"Father?" he called out quietly, but it was enough to grab Jian's attention. "Could you not sleep either? Or did Mother kick you out of the bedroom for letting Shang go out?"

"No, it's not that…" Jian motioned for his eldest son to sit next to him so Ce took the nearest seat. "I was just worrying about your sister again. I know you'll protect her… am I being too protective of her?"

"Listen Father, she's your youngest and only daughter, of course you're going to be protective of her. None of us blame you for wanting to keep her safe. I still promise I'll look after- she's my only sister too. And I'll make Quan keep an eye out for her too. You shouldn't panic!"

Jian nodded slowly and clasped his hands together on the table. "I'm just worrying because I won't be there as I usually am. It still feels weird that we're going to battle and I'm not going to be there leading everyone." He sighed and looked at his weather-beaten hands. "The old must make way for the young in today's world…"

As Ce was about to reply the figure of Sun Quan appeared in the doorway and he too walked over to join his fellow Sun family members. He knew what they were talking about, and he too felt something about the situation. He and Ce had always followed the guidance of their father, but who could they follow instead? They both admired Huang Gai immensely as he was a great warrior of Wu and one of Jian's closest friends. They couldn't imagine the Wu army without Gai and they trusted him as much as they did other family members. There was also Cheng Pu, who had served Jian alongside Huang Gai. He would keep a watchful eye on the Sun children while Gai taught them to be strong and defend themselves in times of danger- it was these two people who had become almost honorary Suns. Quan knew that if Sun Jian couldn't be there, that Huang Gai and Cheng Pu would, no questions asked.

Quan straightened out his battle clothes and looked out of a small window behind his father. "It's getting lighter- do you think the others will be awake yet?"

"Your sister must be awake by now, but I think she was meant to see your mother before she left," Jian said as he heard the noise of more footsteps approach the large room. "We'll just wait and see how she gets on."

Xxx

Still in a sleepy state the young Wu princess carefully adjusted the red silk headband which graced her upper forehead. She used a small wooden brush to sweep away some of her short loose strands of hair from her face as she made sure she looked presentable for the battlefield, not that anyone was going to really notice. Sun Shang Xiang was going to represent Wu, her home, so she felt that it was only right she gave a good impression to her fellow warriors. In her mind she wondered how many other females would be out on the battlefield besides herself and her bodyguards- she came to the conclusion that there wouldn't be many as Xiao Qiao had told her during the previous night's dinner that 'you're the only crazy one Shang, every other female has sense not to risk their life'. It would be great to see someone else flying the female flag she thought, shaking her head a bit to see if anything would fall out of place. She didn't even know why she was trying to look good- she never usually bothered with her appearance. One thing she avoided though was any make up, after several failed attempts by Lady Wu to try and get her daughter to dress up.

"I'll show those men what a woman can do," she said to herself as she prepared to pay her mother a visit. It was still quite early and she suspected that Lady Wu would be asleep getting her 'beauty rest' as she liked to call it. She had left her chakrams in the training room which was a good thing, as Lady Wu usually objected to seeing her daughter carrying a weapon close to her. Shang continually assured her that she wouldn't hurt herself as she was fully trained, but Lady Wu would carry on moaning about the dangers of sharp blades and bleeding to death.

Shang Xiang left her weapon-laden bedroom and started to walk past her brothers' rooms, a dressing room and a study before reaching her parents' bedroom. She knew her father would be awake already as he was the early riser of the family, so she knocked three times and waited for her mother to answer. As she waited she played with the golden decorative buckle on her top, and then stopped as she heard soft footsteps come closer to the door.

The golden door handle twisted and it slowly swung open, revealing Lady Wu still dressed in her nightclothes. It was rare to see her like this- it was only Shang Xiang, Jian, Ce and Quan who had ever seen her that way. For everyone else all they knew of Lady Wu was that she was always neat and tidy- neither a single hair out of place nor a single crease in her delicate clothes. Shang followed her inside and closed the door behind her. Lady Wu grabbed a thin robe from a chair and put it on as they walked back over to the bed. They both sat on the side of it, and Lady Wu reached over to get something small from her end table.

"I take it you are ready for battle now Shang Xiang?" Lady Wu sighed as her daughter nodded, but it wasn't a time to argue. She had already lost- there was virtually no point in continuing. "I see… I just want to let you know that as I am your mother I will always love you, no matter what you choose to do. I'll be proud of you whatever path you take."

"But Mother, you've always campaigned against what I've chosen to do. You've never let me be happy choosing what I want to do… why have you let me be free to choose now?"

Lady Wu continued to hold on to the object in her hand and looked Shang Xiang in the eyes. "My reason is that I'm afraid of losing my daughter. You don't know how lucky we are to have you Shang Xiang… the pregnancy was complicated. No wonder your father protected you so well. I always wanted a little girl with whom I could pass on secrets to, give advice too, and teach things that my mother had taught me. You were never interested though so I thought I could use force to, but that didn't work. I don't feel like I've failed, I still have you and that's all that matters…" She wiped a tear away as Shang Xiang wrapped her arms around her.

"It's alright Mother, I understand… I'm not just doing this for myself- I'm doing it for Wu." She hugged her mother tighter before letting go and sitting closer. "I want to do the family proud without sitting around- I guess it's the way I am. I promise I won't let any of us down."

"I know, you've always been our little star." Lady Wu smiled a little and took one of Shang Xiang's hands. She opened it and placed in Shang's palm a necklace, which Shang Xiang moved closer to her eyes to get a proper look at it. The chain was silver and the pendant had a deep set ruby in it… it was beautiful, but Shang couldn't understand why it had been given to her.

"Mother, it's wonderful… but why are you giving it to me?"

Lady Wu took the necklace back, unfastened it and put it around Sun Shang Xiang's neck. "It used to belong to my grandmother, and she had always been a fighter. She had a fiery temper and a determined nature towards life. She never let anything get in her way and was always so willing. I think you inherited a lot of her spirit Shang Xiang, so I think you should inherit this too. Your grandmother was a great woman, and you are too." She took a look at her daughter wearing it before giving her a hug. She saw Shang, like she had done and wipe a tear away, so she pulled her in for another one. "Hey, don't cry… you're meant to be strong!"

Shang nodded in the hug and smiled. "Sometimes it's good to cry, like now. I'm crying because I'm happy! I know I never got the chance to meet Great-Grandmother but I wish I had the chance to meet her again. Was she really like me?"

"Of course she was, but back then she didn't have the opportunity to go out and fight like you. She was in a poor family so had to look after her brothers and sisters all day long, but it's her personality which shines through you." She let go of Shang Xiang and stood up. "I think your father is waiting downstairs for everyone, he wants to make sure you're prepared too. Are you ready?"

Sun Shang Xiang stood up, wiped her last tear and nodded. "Yeah, I am now." She carefully tucked the necklace behind her clothes, keeping the pendant close to her chest. "Thank you for the necklace- I'll keep it with me always." She headed towards the door and before opening it to leave she looked at her mother again. "I'll do it for Great-Grandmother too!" She closed the door behind her, leaving Lady Wu standing by the bed.

"Stay safe out there," Lady Wu said quietly as she got back into the bed. She took a deep breath before resting her head back down onto the silk pillow, and hoped that her family would be safe.

Xxx

Sun Jian watched as Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and their band of men left out into the distance to go to Qu'e for battle. They were to be sent first, shortly followed by the Suns and Zhou Yu. He scratched his head as he sat on the castle steps near the main entrance- the sun was making its way to the top of the sky and it looked like it was going to be a nice day for battle. The bright blue sky, the sun shining bright- for once Jian was able to admire it in its full beauty. He had never usually had this much free time on his hands but then again his life had always been about fighting and he never had much time for anything. He even wondered how he had time to marry Lady Wu and help raise three children.

Before the children had gone to pack their things onto their horses Jian had given them and the other generals a little preparation talk, just as he had done before when he went to battle with them. He told them to look out for each other as friends do, and to take great care on the field. He always did this as he liked to think that he motivated them too. The Wu leader was good at installing a sense of confidence into his generals and it certainly showed. Even though some generals came back with bloody wounds and broken bones they still felt happy- they were serving Wu, and serving a great leader who they would gladly give their lives for. Sun Jian did his best to protect them- he had always wanted to be a caring leader, not tyrannical at all. His time spent fighting in the coalition against Dong Zhuo had taught him a lesson not to turn into such a vile creature of evil.

He got up to his feet as the clip-clop of hooves of four horses approached. Four white horses being led by the three Sun children and Zhou Yu approached, and they bowed as they stopped next to Sun Jian. Jian bowed back and scanned the horses' bags to make sure that they had packed everything.

Sun Ce chuckled as Jian tried moving Sun Shang Xiang's saddle to see if it was secure enough. "Father, I'm sure Shang has done everything right, stop worrying or I'll get Mother to drag you back inside!"

"I'm just making sure Ce…" Jian patted the horse's head afterwards and went back to stand in front of the three. "I've never let you all go out at once, I'm just worried… that's all."

"Is this a family speech," Zhou Yu interrupted, "because I can step aside for a bit if you need it…"

"Zhou Yu, you are family to us," Jian said. "You always have been, we count you as a Sun too. Please, stay. It's important." He nodded as Yu remained where he was. "Now, as I was saying, I just want to know you'll all be safe. I know you're all going to say that you've been in fights and battles before and that you didn't get hurt then, so why should you get hurt now… but you can never foresee these types of things. I couldn't foresee that arrow piercing my chest could I? You just need to prepare for these events."

The four then watched in slight surprise as Jian went to hug each of them one by one. He hugged Shang Xiang last, and whispered something in her ear. Afterwards he ruffled her hair playfully before stepping back. Sun Ce was the first to jump onto his horse, and the others soon followed suit and did the same.

Jian stepped up to Shang's horse once she had got herself sat atop it. "Take care, my precious daughter. Listen to Ce well and be strong. I know you can do it." He then nodded his head towards Ce giving him the signal that it was alright for them to start on their journey. Ce then nodded towards Zhou Yu before kicking the side of his horse and riding towards the castle gates. The remaining three did the same and followed, waving to Sun Jian as they left.

Sun Shang Xiang, almost at the gate where her brothers and Zhou Yu were waiting, stopped her horse suddenly and turned it to face the direction Jian was looking into. Jian saw her stop, confused to as why she had. Then he saw her blow him a kiss before giggling and turning back round. He smiled and pretended to catch it- it was a little game that they had often played when she was a little girl. She would blow kisses everywhere and he would have to try and 'catch' them. It brought back a lot of memories to him, and he could see the little girl glint in his daughter's eyes as she smiled sometimes. But she wasn't a little girl anymore- she was a woman, leaving to take part on the battle she had waited so long to participate in. Sun Jian then waved back to them as the rode on to Qu'e… it was time to fight.

Xxx

"Are you ready then?" Sun Quan asked his sister as they rode side by side behind Ce and Yu. They had slowed the horses down now that they were halfway there. Ce had decided that they take a detour through some woods and that gave them a chance to prepare themselves mentally- the calm surroundings made a great mind clearer.

Sun Shang Xiang grinned and held on to her horse's reigns tighter. "Of course, do you know how long I've waited for this? This is the happiest day of my life so far! I can't describe how I feel at the moment- nervousness and excitement rolled into one emotion!"

Quan nodded in agreement and steered his horse around a large oak tree. "Yeah, I felt like that too as I got ready for my first battle. It was a bit hard for me though as it was during the whole Dong Zhuo thing. Sun Ce started fighting just near the start of that, at Si Shui gate. I was originally meant to just watch but my persistent begging finally got me out there fighting. You get an amazing buzz from it all, especially as you put into practice all of the things you've learnt during endless years of studying and training."

"Telling sis all the stories from back then Quan?" Ce said loudly as he turned his head round briefly. "Ha, great times back then. You weren't that old back then Shang, I don't think you would've remembered much about it. You had to stay in Wu didn't you?"

"Yeah, I had to stay with Mother. You can probably guess how much I loved that." She sighed before remembering her talk with Lady Wu earlier that day. "She told me this morning that no matter what I did she'd be proud of me anyway, even though she hates the thought of women fighting."

"Shang Xiang," Zhou Yu added, "it's because she is your mother and loves you. Parents are always proud of their children- it doesn't matter how strong or clever they are. As long as you are happy and healthy they will always care about you. I'm sure they'd care about you even if you weren't happy or healthy- it's called unconditional love. They will always see you as their little girl."

"I guess…" Shang Xiang took one hand from the reigns as she reached to the pendant and touched it. Her fingers grazed over the blood red ruby in the centre and she smiled into it. She had thought more about her Great-Grandmother and how much she wished she could've met her. I've probably got so much in common with her she thought as she put the pendant back underneath her top. She wondered if her brothers knew much about this amazing woman but she assumed that they didn't.

As he continued riding his horse Sun Quan could see the glint of silver in the corner of his eye. "I didn't know you wore necklaces Shang? What's the sudden change?"

His sister took out the pendant again and turned it to show him. "This… this is the necklace that Mother gave me this morning when she had her talk with me. She said it belonged to Great-Grandmother and that I should look after it. She said that Great-Grandmother had exactly the same personality as I have, and that if anyone should have the necklace it should be me."

"I see. I can't remember much about Great-Grandmother, and I'm not sure if I've heard much. I remember Mother saying ages ago, when you were younger, that you have the same eyes as she had, and the same adventurous nature. She's right you know. I've seen an old portrait of her and you'd be amazed by the similarity."

"Did she have her hair short like me?"

"Remember Shang, this was years and years ago! People weren't expected to cut their hairs short, especially if they were women. From what I can remember, it was quite long. Probably the same length as Ce's ponytail…"

The elder Sun brother heard his name being mentioned so quickly turned his head around. "Are you saying I have hair like a woman?"

"No! I was just giving Shang a guide as to how long Great-Grandmother's hair was in her portrait!" Quan laughed as his brother turned back round again. "Plus women don't have pointy goatee beards!"

Shang Xiang however still wanted to hear more. "Can you tell me more about her? Please?"

Quan rolled his eyes at his sister's determination to find out more. He himself had never really known much about Lady Wu's side of the family as it was full of fiery temperamental females. On Sun Jian's side it was much more male dominated so he felt more comfortable there. "I can try… she was probably around the same height as you. Grandmother Wu used to tell me stories when I was little, during the time when Mother was still pregnant with you and Ce used to go to lessons. She'd tell me things about Great-Grandmother… like how she'd chase all the birds from her rice fields so that it would all grow properly, and how she managed to frighten a burglar to death by just shouting and screaming at him. She must've been a great woman to manage to do all the things I've been told about as well as manage to raise seven children."

"Seven? Wow, she was amazing!"

"Yeah, but it was a very cosy and loving atmosphere. Grandmother said she wouldn't have had her childhood any other way- to be surrounded by lots of people who love and care about you is the most nurturing childhood you could ever have."

"I could probably learn a lot about her… maybe after the battle you could tell me more?"

"Sure!" Quan smiled as the group led the horses out of the woody area and onto the plains with the great large mountains in the distance. It was a picturesque scene and they could already see some of their reserve troops camped. This meant that the main body of the army were all ready and prepared.

An officer dressed in red and gold uniform trotted over on his brown horse to greet them. "Lord Sun Ce, the fighting has already commenced! Lord Zhou Yu's unit are on their way to Ox Landing and Lord Huang Gai and Lord Cheng Pu are assisting with the fighting on the mountain border. The troops are all ready and fighting until they receive further instruction."

"Great, because we're all ready too." Ce looked at Quan, Shang Xiang and Yu. "Zhou Yu, take Quan with you to the Ox Landing stores. Attack those stores and destroy them all! Shang Xiang, you'll come with me and look over the fighting, taking part where needed. Is that understood everyone?"

Zhou Yu nodded and led the way as he and Sun Quan headed west to Ox Landing. Shang Xiang rode next to Sun Ce as they made their way to the main camp. The noise grew louder the closer and closer they moved towards it. Hundreds of tents had been set up for the soldiers who were resting and those who were fighting, and Shang could see the medical tent quite close by. She watched as wounded soldiers walked in and out of the small shelter bloodied and bruised.

The pair jumped from their horses and took themselves and their weapons to inside the largest tent. A table had been set up for Sun Ce and it had on it the battle plans and there was someone wearing a robe marking down the flow of battle. Shang managed to sneak a peek in and saw that areas that had been attacked were marked down. She straightened up and folded her arms as the sounds of battle cries filtered in through the cloth walls. It was time to live the life she had chosen…