Chapter 3: Past Times

"Sun Ce…I've hear that name before…but I don't remember where." Kai said drowzily. She stated to think about where she had heard that name. Then…it came to her. That name was mentioned the day her mother died. Kai fell into another daydream…

flashback

"Someone! Any one! Help us! We're under attack by the Wu army!" Kai and her mother were running from their home. Peasants stared as they watched Kai run by, holding her mothers arm tightly. As they ran through the town, they pushed pass very few people, running as fast as they possibly could.

People who were near by and heard that they were under attack started to run, hide and even grab anything that they thought could be a weapon. Only some men stayed to fight.

"Kai, please keep running. I can't run any further. Please, keep going." Kai's mother let go and collapsed to the ground. Kai looked back with tears in her eyes. She ran up to her mother and hugged her.

"I won't leave you." She said shakily. Her mother looked at her concerned.

"Kai, I want you to go to out lord and tell him to send an army out this way. I will try to hide long enough to wait for you. Meet me over there." Kai's mother pointed out to a nearby shed. Kai nodded, letting some of her tears fall. Her mother hugged her, got up and ran to the hiding spot. Kai ran in the opposite direction and ran to go tell Cao Cao.

A while later, Kai finally found where she was supposed to go. She caught her breath and ran up to the castle.

"Who are you and why are you here?" A guard who stood at the door asked her, blocking her path.

"Wu!…They are…attacking us!" Kai said shaking and out of breath. The guard gained a surprised look on his face and immediately let her in. She ran down the halls, becoming very confused. She looked and looked for the right room, but couldn't find it. After about an hour of looking, she finally stumbled upon the room.

"Lord Cao Cao! Help! My homeland of Xia Pi is being invaded by Wu!" Kai cried out. Her cry echoed in the room, distracting Cao Cao from his conversation with Sima Yi.

"What! I thought you said that they weren't coming for a while!" Cao Cao turned to Sima Yi! Sima Yi had a surprised look on his face. He got up and walked over to where Kai was standing.

"I want you to go and hide somewhere. We will take care of this…now go!" Sima Yi pushed Kai out the door and slammed it shut.

"T-thank you?" Kai said puzzled at why they didn't let her explain further. She sighed and ran off to return to her mother.

When she finally got to where her mother was, she saw that a lot of people were fighting and dieing.

"Why are they doing this to us?" Kai asked broken-heartedly. Her mother shook her head and grasped Kai even closer to her. Kai felt the pressure and wished everything was a dream.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, they heard a large crowd shout as they marched through the streets. Kai watched, full of wonder of who it could be. She knew that a general of Wei should be near, if that shout came from their soldiers.

Horse hooves could be heard, as the Wei general, Xiahou Dun, rode by. He started to kill people while riding his horse, running them over and swinging his scimitar.

Kai watched him ride off in amazement. Then she looked back up to her mother. She looked back at the stream of soldiers that followed.

"Is it going to be over soon?" Kai asked. Her mother shook her head and signaled a no.

Suddenly, Kai was jerked away from her comfort. Someone had taken her mother! She had to get her back, but how? Why would they do something like this to her?

When she got up to get out of her hiding spot, she heard her mother scream. She stood there with eyes wide open, no movement. She looked as she saw the same ruthless man that had slain her father.

She turned and began to run and heard him start to come after her. She ran into a whole bunch of Wei soldiers, hoping that they would slow him down. Fortunately, it did.

It was at least an hour of running when she collapsed on the roas. She felt the hard, cold gravel bruise her cheek and her side. She didn't care how much it hurt, but all she knew was that she had lost the man chasing her.

She lay there in the middle of the street and began to cry. She was alone, she had no parents, she had no shelter and she felt like she had lost everything.

After crying for a while, she fell in the middle of the road. When she woke up, she was in a room. The room was cold and dark gray bricks surrounded it. Spider webs coward in the corner and the bed was hard. Was she in Wei? Or did Wu capture her?

She got up groggily and walked to a rotting, wood door. She stood there for a few minutes before having the courage to reach out to the handle.

As she was about to open the door, she heard footsteps. Kai immediately pulled away and coward to the wall, hoping the people out there weren't coming in. Then she got a glimmer of hope…what if they were on Wei's side?

Kai began to slowly pace herself to the door. She walked slowly towards the door when it opened suddenly. She jumped back as she saw a man. He was tall, about five feet nine inches, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in red and had a small gotee.

Kai looked at him, knowing that he wasn't from Wei. Her hopes were shattered. How would she get out of here?

"You must be the one that Shang Xiang captured, huh?" He spoke with a concerned tone. Kai never replied, what was there to reply to anyway? she stayed near the wall, looking at him in fear.

"Why did she have to capture a kid? Well, eversince you won't really be any use to the Wu army, I'll let you go." He said. Kai opened her eyes wide. She couldn't believe it! Why was he going to let her go? He could've done so many things to her, but he let her go instead.

"w…who are you?" she asked sheepishly. He looked down at her and smiled. He stood there with out a response for a while, then turned towards the door.

"Sun Ce…my name is Sun Ce. Don't think you'll be seeing me often." He walked out the door. She watched as he walked away and they guards abruptly took her out and delivered her back to Xia Pi, where she began to mourn for her mother.

end flashback

"Hello! Are you there?" Zhen Ji exclaimed. She had been sitting there for at least two hours waiting for Kai to snap out of it. Only a few officers were there. Xiahou Yuan was there, but he was sleeping, Zhang He was fiddling with his hair and Sima Yi and Cao Cao were talking about plans. Everyone else had left.

"…Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" Kai apologized, making Zhang He jump and mess up his hair. "Please forgive me! I really didn't mean to go off like…" "No…actually, I was worried you weren't going to wake up." Zhen Ji interrupted the apology. Kai was wide eyed when suddenly Xiahou Dun ran into the meeting hall.

"Lord Cao Cao! The Shu army has arrived!" Xiahou Dun exclaimed. Sima Yi and Cao Cao got up alarmed.

"Hurry! Send an army to make sure they don't get anywhere near here!" Cao Cao quickly ordered. Xiahou Dun quickly bowed his head and ran out the door.

"It's about to begin…and we don't even have a plan yet." Sima Yi calmed himself. He walked out to go and make another plan for the battle against Shu.

"My Lord, would you like me to send out a part of my army?" Zhang He offered after re-fixing his hair. Cao Cao nodded and Zhang He departed for the battlefield.

"What would you like me to do Lord Cao Cao?" Kai asked.

"Provide Zhang He and Xiahou Dun with backup. Try not to go into your memory thoughts too much otherwise you could get killed." Cao Cao said as he left the room as well. Kai looked after him and sighed.

"Zhen Ji, would you like to come with me?" Kai turned to Zhen Ji. She nodded and they started out the door.