A/N- Whew, finally finished this chapter, and on Christmas Day! Well, I had to do something after being stuffed with food. Here are some battle scenes- I hope they're not too bad XD

Chapter Three: It Begins

Sun Shang Xiang poked her head through the battle tent to have a look outside. The shouting was still as loud as ever, and the beautiful mountain scenery had been destroyed by the endless sea of tents. She was itching to go out and fight but Sun Ce had warned her not to. Well, just not yet. Her chakrams lay at one side of the tent and she slowly walked over to them. They were still shiny and unused in battle… she felt like quickly grabbing them and running out to the battlefield, but she noticed her elder brother's watchful eye from where he sat discussing battle moves with Chen Wu, a new ally who had just decided to join Wu.

One thing she had noticed was that most of the generals were quite tall. Her brothers nearly towered over her and she always had to look up when speaking to them. This new officer was no exception. He was taller than even Ce, and Shang Xiang wondered how anyone could get so tall! She wasn't exactly short, but compared to them she definitely was. Luckily for her Lady Wu was quite short, but then again most of the women from the Wu side had been lacking in height.

"Hey Shang, come over here!"

Shang Xiang walked over to the table from where Sun Ce had called her and went to stand by his side. "You called me brother?"

"Yes…" Ce said as he tapped his fingers against the table surface. "Chen Wu has just informed us that Liu Yao has just been sent some volunteer troops by Liu Biao. The volunteer general, Zhang Ying, is guarding Ox Landing so we can trust Zhou Yu and Quan to deal with him. So in the meantime we are going to attack the mountain border instead of sitting around here all day."

"Yes, because we have been sitting here all day!" she replied quite angrily. "I'm meant to be going to battle and all I've been doing for the past few hours is standing around and poking my head out of the tent! I didn't know battle could be this boring!"

Sun Ce rolled his eyes and lightly laughed. "Sister, you can't just go rushing into things! It's just like what Father said, you need to prepare yourself. Besides, why are you complaining when I just said that we're going to go to the mountain border?"

"I guess I was just sick of waiting all the time, you know I can be impatient!" Shang dashed over to pick up her weapons and waited by the tent exit for her brother. He grabbed his tonfas and joined her, ready to start fighting.

Followed by their bodyguards (Ce's six bulky men and Shang's four tough women) they made their way to the makeshift stable to collect their horses. Shang Xiang untied her white horse and jumped on, before following Ce and his men to where the battle was already taking place. As they approached the border they could hear the deafening sound of metal clashing and the bloody dying screams of the enemy. Several enemy corpses lay scattered around, and in the distance they could see a fresh wave of enemy soldiers coming at them fast.

Sun Ce held a tonfa in each hand tight and prepared to attack. "Leave none of the enemy standing!" he cried out before rushing out into the sea of strange faces.

Sun Shang Xiang watched as her brother used his weapons from on top of the horse- she saw how the enemies were knocked out instantly by a few hits of his large weapon, and how much blood such a seemingly blunt weapon could draw. Her heart started to beat faster as one enemy soldier brandished their sword as they ran straight for her. The bloodthirsty look in their eyes frightened her somewhat- they wanted to kill her and she had frozen. Her bodyguards were fighting other soldiers who had surrounded them, and it was then that she realised that she would have to be the one to kill him.

She jumped off her horse and ran towards the enemy, chakrams in hand. At first she clashed with him- he tried to block her attacks with his sword, but he found himself slipping. Shang Xiang blocked his desperate attempts to slice her using defensive moves and carefully executed dodges, and even managed to flip out of the way just to confuse him. She assumed that he was surprised that he was being beaten by a woman, so she smiled as she kicked him in the stomach with her foot. The man was sent flying, his sword dropped as he clenched his stomach with his hands, crying out in pain. She walked over and looked down at him, and then turned around to see her brother looking at her. Ce nodded, and Shang knew what she would have to do next. Looking once at the shimmering blade she held in one hand, she closed her eyes as she swiftly lowered it down…

Xxx

"Do you think Zhang Ying will be there then Zhou Yu?"

"Hmm… I don't think so. He's probably a coward just like anyone Liu Biao hires…" Zhou Yu and Sun Quan led their men to the Ox Landing stores ready to wipe them out. If Zhang Ying was there then that made their job much easier. They didn't want to end up fighting while having to destroy the stores at the same time.

Sun Quan started to whistle to himself, trying to make the journey livelier. As they slowly made their way there Quan wondered how his sister would be getting along herself. He wanted to know if she was out there fighting but he wished her luck anyway. All of the Suns were natural born fighters so she assumed she'd be on the battlefield kicking butt and showing the enemies what the Sun family were made of! Quan tried to think about his first time fighting again but it had been many years ago. It was all fun anyway and he'd been glad he'd chosen this route in life. He took a deep breath, but then found himself coughing on what seemed to be smoke. Why could he smell smoke?

Zhou Yu sniffed the air, and then coughed himself. "Good gods, where is that smoke coming from?"

"I don't know… hey! The stores are in flames!" Quan pointed towards the large stores in the distance, the same direction the thick black smoke was coming from. He and Yu sped the horses up to go and investigate, holding a hand over their mouths to prevent themselves choking on the fumes. They were surprised at what they saw…

Upon reaching the burned out stores they saw two large figures standing in front a small gathering of men. One man looked quite rugged and had quite a dark complexion. He was holding onto a spear and some of his long black hair was loosely tied up with a dark red ribbon. The man standing next to him however was dressed in armour, wore a helmet which covered most of his face, and he held onto a katana held onto his belt. He had quite a serious expression on his face and initially Zhou Yu and Sun Quan were afraid to approach them.

The shorter man with the spear took a step forward and bowed to the two generals. "Do not be alarmed at the flames, we have destroyed the stores and scared away the guarding general. My friend and I, along with our men, wish to join the great kingdom of Wu!"

Quan jumped from his horse with his sword and went to stand in front of the two strangers. "Thank you for destroying them for us- we would be more than happy to welcome you both into Wu. I'm Sun Quan, second son of Sun Jian, and that person behind me is Zhou Yu, our chief strategist. And you two are?"

"I am Jiang Qin, and this here is Zhou Tai. We belonged to a band of pirates but after a long time spent travelling we both decided to leave and use our skill and talent for a good purpose. We assure you that you have made a good decision!" Qin then bowed with his spear in hand, as did Zhou Tai. The men behind them did the same.

Yu led the horse over and then dismounted one he was close enough. He bowed and shook hands with them both. "It's a pleasure to meet the two of you, and it's great to have you onboard. Did you say you scared the guarding general away?"

Qin nodded and pointed with his spear to the south. "He retreated that way… I think his name was Zhang Ying. He didn't have many people with him… those that he did have we wiped out fairly easily."

"That's good. But now we'll lead you both and your men to join the main army. There we will assign you both suitable ranks and tasks for the battle ahead." Zhou Yu climbed back onto his horse and led everyone back to the main camp, leaving the charred stores behind.

As they rode Sun Quan would turn his head around briefly and take a look at the two new recruits. It was easy to see that they were former pirates- their tanned skins and rough looks, their clothes, and the way they spoke to each other. But there was something about the taller man, Zhou Tai. He looked quite shady, and Quan had noticed that he hadn't said a thing yet. Quan was sure he wasn't evil, but he'd find out more sooner or later…

Xxx

The sounds of screaming seemed quite distant as Sun Shang Xiang looked down at what she had done. The man lay on the ground in front of her, his blood spilling onto the slightly dusty surface. The crimson liquid dripped from the chakram she held in her hand, and she felt a strange sensation overcome her. She couldn't bear to look at the vertical slash she had made on the man's throat- the blood was just pouring out of him. She knew he was dead and that there was nothing else she could do, as he would still be dead. Shang Xiang took a deep breath and felt the guilt- the man hadn't done anything to her and she had just killed him. She tried putting herself in the shoes of the man's family back at their home, if he had any family, and she wasn't getting a good feeling at all. The man would surely be missed by whoever he had left behind and it was she who had taken his life away so cruelly.

To spend years waiting to go out and fight, yet to feel like this after just the first kill… Shang Xiang couldn't explain it. She guessed that she hadn't expected to feel so bad. Ce had told her about it and warned her about the intense emotions, but she thought she had been ready. In her mind she hoped that the more people she killed and the more used she got to it, the less she would feel the same as she did just then. Still engrossed in thought, she didn't notice that Sun Ce had run over to see why she was standing there frozen.

"Shang, are you okay?" Ce took one look at his sister, and then at the man in front. He noticed his throat and the bloodstained chakram- he put the pieces together and led Shang away from the scene. "I guess you're feeling guilty now?" She nodded and looked down to the ground. "Let me put it this way sis- that man was trying to kill you. If you hadn't done anything he could've easily stuck his sword through you and killed you on the spot. You were defending yourself just like any other person on the battlefield."

"Uh huh…" Shang Xiang continued looking down, trying to block out the distant screams. "You did warn me before Ce…" She choked back her emotions- this was no place to be feeling upset. What good was she like this? She tried to shake it out of her and concentrate on something else, but what? More killing? She knew that she would get used to it eventually, just not right at that moment.

Ce nodded and kept his sister close. "Listen, I'll be here if it gets too tough for you. If you need a hand give me a shout and I'll be more than happy to finish them off for you." He pointed towards a large gathering of enemy soldiers in the distance with a tonfa. "How about we show them what we Suns are made of? You can just injure them if you want and I'll do the rest."

"Yeah right!" Shang Xiang stood proud and defiant, grasping her weapons tight and focusing on her target. "I'm not making myself look weak out there! If I can kill one enemy soldier I can kill many more… I need to do this if I'm ever going to get better!"

"That's my little sister!" The Little Conqueror chuckled and ruffled his sister's short tomboyish hair before running ahead, allowing time for her to follow. Sure enough she was all ready and running alongside him, a look of determination on her face and a fierce spark in her eye. "They won't know what's hit them once we've finished with them!"

The pair charged through the group of fifty or so troops, attacking them and forcing any of those quick enough into fleeing. Some were not fast enough as they were struck by a flying tonfa or a chakram. With her mind focused Shang sliced through the enemies, not letting any pass and letting her blade deal with their fates. Soon enough her mind was far away from thoughts of guilt, but concentrating on the safety of her home, the kingdom of Wu. If this was the way to protect it, then so be it. Her ears soon became oblivious to the screams; she barely noticed them as she ended their lives. She would occasionally take a glance at her elder brother to see that he was busy dealing with enemies of his own. She hadn't needed his help, and she knew inside that she wouldn't need it. Once she had found her strength from within everything was alright, and she didn't need or want the help. After her blade ripped through one more enemy Sun Shang Xiang looked around… there were none left standing? She scanned the ground with her eyes, to see that the troops that had been there before were now scattered around herself and her brother in a great bloody mess. She turned to her brother and smiled… she had done it herself, and a sense of pride filled her. Ce nodded back, as if to say what a good job she had done for her first try. Shang shook her chakrams slightly, getting rid of a few drops of blood causing them to splatter on the sandy ground, just as a familiar face joined them on his horse.

Zhou Yu halted his mare in front of the pair, and jumped down. "Nice job you've done here my Lord."

"Ha, actually only half of it was me. Shang Xiang's proven herself to be quite the warrior!" Ce pointed his head towards his sister, who was now grinning at the praise. "What brings you back so early? Could you not find the stores?"

"Well, actually… the stores were there, yes, but we were beaten to it."

Ce looked puzzled… he had only sent out his sworn brother and Quan. "Who could've possibly beaten you to it?"

"Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, two former pirates from around the area. They would like to join us in this battle, and they have already been a great help by setting the stores alight and destroying them. I have sent them to the main camp to seek your approval, that is, if you wish to recruit them…"

"Of course they can!" Ce patted Yu on the back hard and laughed loudly. "Anyone who can send Zhang Ying fleeing into retreat is welcome here! Tell them they have my full approval and can join in the battle straight away!" He looked back at his sister, who was standing quite awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. "Hey Shang, we're heading back to the main camp now, coming?"

Shang Xiang nodded and started following Ce and Yu, constantly looking around for any approaching enemies. Gone were her doubts, now all she wanted to do was rush out and wipe them out! She kept a huge smile on her face; she couldn't wait to tell Xiao Qiao about how much fun she was having out in battle. But her mother… she wasn't so sure. Lady Wu was difficult to predict but at least the worry about having her mother lecture her for getting injured had vanished, she was perfectly safe and unharmed. There was not a scratch on her body, everything was going quite smoothly. She faced forward with her chin held high, thinking of ways she could celebrate this afterwards. Her thoughts were however disturbed as something hit the back of her chakram on the blade, managing to knock it out of her hand. "What the…?"

She turned around, only to see that they had been followed. A tall general dressed in full armour, surrounded by several troops clutching swords, was holding a bow and arrow. He grinned as he watched the Wu princess become flustered and angry, and this only aggravated Shang Xiang more. Ce and Yu had also turned around, preparing themselves for a fight. Picking up her dropped chakram with her eyes still on him, Shang glared at him, pointing a blade towards him. "How dare you!" she screamed out, before getting ready to launch her attack. Before she had the chance she felt herself being pulled from behind.

"That's not a very wise idea Shang," Ce warned as he looked at the general once more. "He looks strong, I'm not sure you could handle him just yet. You might be better off leaving me to deal with him." He sighed as she sulked, but he knew it was for the best. Judging by the enemy general's heavy rods, he could've easily bludgeoned her to death and that was something he didn't want to see at all. Sun Jian had entrusted her safety to him and he'd risk life and limb to make sure she stayed alive. "I'll go and see what he wants. Zhou Yu, you can come with me. Shang, I want you to take Zhou Yu's horse and head towards the camp- if you see any of our troops send them over here to help us out, alright?"

"Of course…" Shang Xiang grabbed hold of the reigns she had just been given by Yu, and jumped on the horse, just as her brother and best friend charged over along with some scattered troops that had surrounded them. She galloped onwards, looking over her shoulder to make sure her brother wasn't hurt. Of course he'll be fine, he's my brother! The wind rushed through her hair as she shouted out orders to groups of troops, who in turn ran towards their leader to assist. This battle's not over just yet!

Xxx

Back safe inside the main camp, Sun Quan sat with the advisors and discussed suitable positions for the two new recruits. He knew his brother would accept Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai into the ranks… after all, Wu was in the process of hiring strong generals, and Qin and Tai were perfect. Quan kept looking up at Tai, still wondering what it was about the man that made him so interesting.

Lu Su looked over the map and the current positions of the generals. "We could send Jiang Qin to join Huang Gai; he's on his own with his unit dealing with troops by the mountains. But what to do with the other one…"

"How about he joins my unit?" Quan suggested eagerly. "I can go through with him some information about Wu so he at least knows some background about us… what do you say?"

"We are not yet sure if your brother wishes for him to have another position…"

"What about having Tai as my bodyguard? You know what my father is like about us being protected, and he's already told me that I need protecting more than Ce. I don't have a main bodyguard right now, and Tai would be perfect! Come on…"

The strategist took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll assign him to you temporarily, or until your brother approves this move." He stood up and walked over to the two generals waiting for their commands. Quan watched as they nodded, accepting their duties. Jiang Qin was lead out of the tent and set forth to join Huang Gai's unit, while Zhou Tai remained. All was quiet, until the tall ex-pirate moved over to Sun Quan and bowed before him.

"It's a pleasure to serve you my lord," he said in his deep voice, expressing his gratitude for being allowed to serve. He looked around at the other strategists and advisors sat at the table and bowed to them too. His facial expression didn't change once- he did not smile or frown, and looked quite focused on the battle. "If my new lord wishes, we can go out to battle to aid our leader."

Quan nodded, and reached underneath the table for the sword that he had laid down. "Of course, that sounds like a great idea. Let's go then!" He bade goodbye to the table crowd and set foot outside with his new protector. Everything looked quite settled, until suddenly Quan noticed out of the corner of his eye his sister sat on top of Zhou Yu's horse calling out to the troops. "Hey, what's my sister doing here?" He ran ahead to her, and was followed by Tai.

Sun Shang Xiang pointed in the direction of the encounter ahead to some cavalry troops, and waited until they had started moving before turning around to see her brother and a strange new face approach. "Oh Quan, am I glad to see you! Ce's having some trouble up ahead; some bastard tried shooting arrows at us! He has some troops with him so I've just sent some back up… who's this?" She looked the new general up and down, impressed by his height and mysterious demeanour.

Once again Zhou Tai bowed low and introduced himself again. "I am Zhou Tai… I have just joined the Wu army. I'm sorry, but I've never seen a woman on the battlefield before."

"Tai, this is my little sister, Sun Shang Xiang…"

"I'm NOT little."

"Fine then, youngest and only sister. She's quite the fighter, she insisted on joining us. But I suppose now we'd better grab a horse and go to help my brother out?"

Xxx

"Argh… you're a tough one!"

Sun Ce dodged yet another of his opponent's blows, trying to fit in some of his own. It was no use; they had now been fighting for over half an hour yet neither was completely worn out. Tired, yes, but their determination was preventing them from just giving up and submitting. Ce was impressed; he hadn't experienced a fight like this for a long time. This general was too good to be serving such a despicable enemy… his talents would be so much more recognised in Wu.

The enemy blocked a swing from the tonfas and stepped back. "I, Taishi Ci, will not bow down to the likes of you! I will fight this to the end- don't expect me to go easy on you!"

"Well then, looks like we'll just keep on going!" Ce laughed and launched himself at Taishi Ci yet again. Each general's troops were gathered around, watching as their leaders battled each other. Time kept on passing, and they still continued, no signs of giving up showing at all.

As they neared, Sun Shang Xiang pointed out to Quan and Tai the battle in progress. "Oh wow, they're still at it?" She jumped off her horse and ran over. "Go Ce, wipe him out!"

Ci lifted his head up slightly as he clashed with Ce. "Oh, you again! This is no place for little girls…"

"I am NOT little! You just wait until my brother's finished with you!"

"Surely you mean the other way around?" Ci focused his attention back to the fight at hand, trying not to let his attention slip. This was getting too intense, and he was feeling his strength slip as time progressed. He needed an opportunity to slip away… any would do… he waited until Ce had turned his back slightly, and craftily kicked a leg out, tripping him up and causing him to crash to the ground in a crumpled heap. The warrior then sped away as fast as he could along with his troops.

"Damn it!" Ce turned over and looked up into the sky before jumping back to his feet. "He's tired… he should be an easy catch. Send someone out to capture him!" But before he could choose the person for the job a ray of red streaked straight past him. She wasn't… was she? "Sister! Get back here!"

Shang Xiang refused to stop, continuing in her chase. "No one calls me a little girl and gets away with it!" She raced ahead, soon catching up with the worn out general who had now slowed down considerably. He was now in sight, so she kissed her right chakram handle before throwing it at his head. It struck his metal helmet and it bounced off, crashing to the ground behind. The force of the blow was too much for the fleeing Taishi Ci to take, and he was pushed forward, face first into the dirt. The angry Wu princess nudged his side once reaching him with her foot, making him roll over onto his back.

"Now…" Shang coughed and pointed a blade downwards. "I would kill you, but it's not often I see such fighting skill. And we wouldn't miss such an opportunity as recruiting a powerful general to our side. Do you really want to be serving that loser Liu Biao?"

Ci looked up at the young woman… he thought about her question carefully. Liu Biao wasn't the best of leaders to serve, he had to admit. He wanted to serve someone who was as strong as he was, and didn't want to let his talents go to waste. Sun Ce had been an admirable opponent, and if the other Wu generals were like that then maybe Wu wasn't such a bad place to be after all… and this woman doesn't look like she'll let me leave alive anyway…

"I've been searching for an honourable leader for quite a while now…" Ci propped himself up using his arms and looked up at Shang Xiang. "It would be a pleasure to serve such a strong leader, like your brother. That is, if you'll take me."

A grin appeared on the princess' face as she put the blade in her spare hand and offered it to him. "And it would be an honour to have you join us! We could do with someone as strong as you."

"Thank you…" He got up to his feet without taking her hand, fearing that his weight would only drag her down. He shook off the dirt and took hold of his weapons, looking behind him as his troops fled away. "Cowards…" he muttered under his breath. "Oh by the way, were you seriously thinking of hurting me with that weapon of yours?"

Shang bent over to pick up her thrown chakram and smiled. "Oh you mean my chakrams? Oh on, I've had enough killing today as it is, and those rods look like they can do some serious damage. Can I try holding one of them?"

Taishi Ci passed her a rod and watched as she tried lifting the weight. She could barely lift it from the ground let alone try and attack with it. "It's heavy I know… and I would never dream of raising my weapons to a woman such as yourself, no matter how strong she may be." He noticed her deep sigh and long face. "What's the matter?"

"No one takes me seriously. I mean, when you saw me, you called me little girl!"

"It must've been a heat of the moment thing, and I'm sorry. You look quite determined; you'll go far with that attitude. Is this your first time in battle?"

She nodded and led them both away to where Sun Ce and the others were waiting for them. "Yeah, but it's been great. I've killed enemy troops and managed to take down a general, as well as persuade him to join us!" She playfully punched his arm and laughed. "Don't worry; you'll like it with us! We're friendly and you'll get along with everyone just fine. You already know me and my brother now." They stopped in front of the group, and Ci lowered himself to his knees in front of Ce.

"Lord Sun Ce, your sister has managed to persuade me to defect to Wu, I would be most glad to serve you and your kingdom." He raised his head slightly to await his response, and was surprised when Ce also lowered himself down, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I am glad to hear that, it would've been such a waste of your talents if you were to continue serving Liu Biao. Having experienced your might and strength, I welcome you into Wu with open arms. It's great to have you join us!" He patted Ci on the back and led him over to Sun Quan and Zhou Tai. "Ah, brother, this must be another of the new recruits?"

Quan nodded and signalled for Tai to step forward. "This is Zhou Tai; he joined us alongside Jiang Qin. He's been recruited as a general, but also as my bodyguard, or protector as you might say."

"Great!" Ce shook Tai's hand vigorously and grinned. Three new recruits in one day and from what he had seen they all looked like they were up to the job. Sun Jian would be proud, but Ce was impressed with his sister's efforts. The battle was now in their favour, and now they just needed to move in for the kill…