AN: Ok, here's another chapter. It's kind of late and kind of short, so sorry. But hope you enjoy anyway. And please leave a review, the more reviews I get the faster I'll update.

Chapter 5 "Amends"

Sun Shang Xiang woke up lightly. Her first thought was how beautiful a day it was. She could see the clear blue sky and a bright, shining sun. It took her a moment to remember what had happened. Panicking, she quickly checked over her body. To her relief, she found no wounds or bolts protruding from her body.

Looking around, she saw him. He was sitting up against the base of a tree, not too far away from her. Even in their situation, she couldn't help but think about how handsome he was, but she quickly shook those thoughts away. His eyes were closed and the bolt was still in his shoulder.

'Ok, he's either dead or sleeping. Either way, I'm getting out of here.' She thought. She sat up and looked to see which direction she should go. Looking back at the injured man, a pang of guilt went through her. 'Those crossbowman were aiming at me, but he saved me...why?'

As she was thinking, Gan Ning awoke. He saw the girl, sitting up and looking down at the ground, obviously in deep thought.

"Are you injured?" He asked softly.

Shang Xiang shot her head around and looked at him, obviously surprised. "umm...yeah...I'm not..no...I'm fine!" She stuttered. "You...you saved me...didn't you?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "ehh, they were shooting at me too. I had to save myself anyway."

Shang Xiang ignored what he said and made her decision. "Earlier, you told me you didn't kill my father, was that the truth?"

"Had I killed you..."

"Yes or No?" She angrily interrupted.

Gan Ning looked at her for a second before answering, "Yes, it's true."

"For some reason...I believe you. And...I don't care whether you believe me or not...but...my father could never of done the things you said." Gan Ning made a move to speak but Shang Xiang stopped him. "No, we'll leave it at that."

The two became quiet. Minutes went by, they both looked around trying not to seem nervous to the other.

Sun Shang Xiang was the first to break the silence, she looked at him, "How's your shoulder?"

Gan Ning looked down at the sharp point sticking through him. He did not say anything, but a slight smile appeared on his face.

"We should head back to the city. Our surgeons will be able to remove it."

"Are you crazy little girl, they would sooner rip me apart in there..."

"My name is not little girl! If you leave that bolt in there, it'll get infected."

Gan Ning reached his had up slowly and made a firm grip on the bolt's shaft. Taking a deep breath, he ripped it quickly out. He grunted from the pain but did nothing else, as the blood started to flow freely from the wound.

Sun Shang Xiang was shocked by the site. She ran forward toward him, not really caring anymore. First, she tried to stop the bleeding with her hand. She covered the wound and applied pressure, as she looked for something to cover it. She took over her headband and wrapped it twice underneath his arm and around his shoulder. This covered the wound, but the blood still freely flowed down his arm. She quickly ripped what pieces of her clothes she could, and stuffed it underneath her headband. This seemed to do the trick. Blood stopped pouring to the ground.

Sun Shang Xiang sat back and sighed. Ning looked over her work and nodded his head in satisfaction, "That's pretty good." He looked up at her, a slight smile on his face, "Thanks."

He looked back down, Shang Xiang remained seated a few feet away, she took the time to look over something she thought she noticed before. "You're Gan Ning of the bells aren't you." She said, pointing towards the four golden bells on his belt.

The smile on his face grew larger, "You've heard of me?"

"I've heard some mixed tales from some travelers."

"Mixed?"

"Some stories made you out to be a ruthless, bloodthirsty murderer who didn't care for the lives of innocent people, and then others made you out to be a nameless hero who would save thousands then disappear faster then you came. I just always thought you were an ass."

The two laughed together, for the first time they forgot about all their troubles. But this blissful moment was followed by a long period of silence, but this time it wasn't as an uncomfortable a silence as before.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Shang Xiang asked.

"We? Oh, no no no no no! Your going back to your home."

"Don't even think about it, I'm the reason your shot and I'm not leaving until your better."

"I'm telling you, you don't want to get involved with me. You have no idea what I'm going to do."

"Oh, what? Are you going to go save some people then run away? Please, I don't think your all that your hyped up to be. If you knew who I was, you'd know I always get what I want. So I'm coming whether you like it or not."

"Geez, are you always this stubborn." She made no move just stared right back at him, he let out a deep breath, "Fine." Sun Shang Xiang almost squealed. "We need to go find out who shot at us."

Sun Shang Xiang happily nodded, then got up to retrieve their horse. Gan Ning slowly stood up, and the two started walking back in the direction they had come. They had know idea where their small adventure would lead them.

AN: Please leave a review.