AN: Sorry this has taken so long, I don't know what's wrong with me. Thanks for all the reviews and please keep them coming. I promise I will try and get back on track, especially if I get some reviews. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4 "Truth"

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Sun Jian fell to his knees, his eyes went blank. Then he fell flat on his face. Not one person moved. Everyone, especially his family, expected him to just get up and shake it off. But he didn't. Time went by, what seemed like an eternity. The tears started to well up in his family's eyes.

"Daddy?" Sun Shang Xiang ran over to the body, breaking down tearfully over him.

Sun Ce and Sun Quan joined her. They carefully turned their father over, and could see that he was dead. Shang Xiang went crying into her brother's arm for comfort, Quan hugged his sister while looking at his father in disbelief, Ce reacted a bit differently than them. Standing up slowly, rage started to build up in his face.

His face red and his breath heavy, Ce yelled. "Prepare the troops!" He ran quickly toward the stables, followed quickly by Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu.

Sun Quan and his sister remained with the body. After a few minutes, the medics came up on the wall and picked up the body and take it to the infirmary. Quan left his sister to escort the body. After reaching their destination, and seeing the body go inside, he turned to find his sister, but she was nowhere to be found. Thinking she wanted to just be alone, he let her be.

Gan Ning sat on his horse, still holding the arrow in his bow. He saw the red figure go down and could tell by all the commotion that Sun Jian had been hit.

He turned around and angrily questioned his men. "Who shot that! I said, WHO SHOT THAT!"

None of his men came forward. Suddenly, the gate of the city was thrown open. Ning turned around to see hundreds of Wu soldiers pouring out towards them. Throwing away his bow, he unsheathed his sword, yelled out for his men to follow, and he charged out into the red mass.

The Wu army far outnumbered and outmatched Ning's band. They quickly surrounded the small force, and, with their superior weapons and armor, picked them apart. Gan Ning could see he was losing badly, he charged right and left, cutting and slashing men down from atop his horse. As he went crossing the battlefield again, he was stopped by Xia Fen.

"Ning, the battle is lost and we're completely surrounded."

"So we fight to the death." Ning was about to spur his horse forward, but he was stopped again.

"Yes, we must...but you must not. Ning you have to survive this."

"What? Fen, I will not abandon the men."

"Look at us Ning, our lives are already half over, but you...you still have much to live for."

"Fen..."

"Your father didn't want you to be like this, to die like this. Destiny has much more in store for you. I've sat back and watched for too long, this is it!" Xia Fen took the horse by the reins and pointed it away from the city. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE!" As hard as he could, Fen slapped the backside of Ning's horse sending it into a panicked gallop.

Ning lost control. The reins were out of reach and he desperately held on to the horse's mane. The horse was able to break through the Wu line, carrying its rider to safety. The soldiers, in their blood lust, did not even notice the lone rider. Ning was carried up a hill, just as they were about to descend the other side, he turned and looked over the battlefield. He spotted Xia Fen, just as a large tonfa came crashing down on his head. He quickly turned back forward, bit his lip, and concentrated on gaining control of his horse again.

It took a while, but the horse eventually grew tired. It had taken over a li away from the city. Ning took one last look back, before turning around and walking the horse slowly northward. His head was completely filled, he had so much to think about. The future, the past, everything in his life had to be looked over. What would he do? Where would he go? He had just started to think up these questions when his reflexes pulled him out of it. A chakram had come spinning out of the forest. Ning raised his sword just in time, deflecting the spinning object, sending it flying just past his head. Recovering quickly, he looked angrily toward the source of the projectile.

What he saw come out of the forest stunned him. A horse came walking out of the forest. It's rider was a tall, slender girl. She wore simple red shorts and top, and she held a chakram in her left hand. Her short brown hair waved lightly in the wind, and her green eyes were tinted red. He could tell she had been crying, and her face showed that she was extremely angry.

She brought the horse up to a few yards away from him. "Do you know who I am?" She spoke quietly. "Do you know who my father was?...yes, my father was" She suddenly exploded, "Because you killed him you bastard!"

Gan Ning was surprised by the sudden change, but he didn't show it. He made no move to speak.

She continued yelling "You shot him in the back. You shot him in the back and ran...like a coward." She looked down at the ground, the tears started to flow. She became quiet again. "My father, Sun Jian, was a great man. He was the strongest warrior, the smartest general...the best father. He is gone for ever now...because of you." She looked up and exploded again. "YOU KILLED HIM, YOU SHOT HIM WHILE HE WASN'T EVEN LOOKING. HAVE YOU NO MERCY, HAVE YOU NO HONOR. YOU OUR JUST A...

Hearing her praise the man he hated so much and talk of such things like honor, angered him beyond belief. And it came boiling over. "HONOR? MERCY? WHERE WAS YOUR FATHER'S MERCY WHEN HE FIRED ON A SHIP CARRYING MY FAMILY. MY FATHER, MY MOTHER, MY SISTERS...I WATCHED, FIFTY YARDS AWAY, AS THEY WERE BURNED...ALIVE!...I'm glad your father's dead, the only regret I have is that I didn't kill him myself!"

Shang Xiang looked up and her eyes widened as she heard him, but she quickly eyed him angrily. "Your lying. My father would never of done any of that. He was a great man, you are nothing compared to him. Your a murderer. NOTHING BUT A MURDERER.
"Believe me little girl. If I had killed your father his head would be on the end of my sword and I would be dragging his rotting carcass through the dirt."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP YOU BASTARD" She had had enough. Her chakram in hand, she charged her horse forward.

She put all her strength and anger into her attack. A normal soldier would have had no chance, but Gan Ning was far from a normal soldier. Ning parried the blow. Shang Xiang had swung too wildly, the parry sent her chakram out of her grip. With his other hand he grabbed Shang Xiang by her throat and pulled her completely off her horse. He then sat there watching as she desperately tried to wretch herself free of his grasp. He watched as she tried to breathe, with a cold and uncaring face. But then suddenly an emotion overcame him. He couldn't tell what but he guessed it was pity. He let her go and sighed at his own weakness.

Shang Xiang fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. As she gained back her senses. She looked past him as she lay on the ground, back toward the forest. A glint of light caught her eye. As she looked closer, she could see what it was. A crossbowman stood with his weapon aimed toward her, she looked through the forest and saw at least a dozen more. Gan Ning looked down at her and saw how she was looking toward the forest. He turned around quickly and saw what she saw.

He then went completely on instinct. He jumped down and covered her with his own body. A click was heard, as the crossbows were released. Bolts whizzed through the air. Ning horse was hit and went down quickly. Once the initial volley was over, Ning quickly gathered up Shang Xiang and carried her to her horse. He quickly mounted with her in his lap and pushed the horse forward.

Sun Shang Xiang was losing consciousness. All the activity had made her even worse. She started to black out. The last thing she saw was him, and the bolt that was sticking out of his shoulder.