AHHH! I'm sorry I didn't update as soon as I promised, but let's just say that modern medicine is still one big guessing game. Well, I also got distracted by pretty, shiny music...
But I've decided on a pairing! You'll just have to wait and see, but I think you'll be happy with it. Granted, there'll be hardly any fluff...I suck at writing it, and this section is inundated with it anyway...insert awkward silence...
Finally, has anyone else read Romance of Three Kingdoms? Isn't that book a bit unfair to historical figures who aren't, oh, I don't know, LIU FREAKIN' BEI? Despite my own prejudices, I will write him fairly. Because I'm just that politically correct. (grumbles bitterly)
Disclaimer: I don't own Dynasty Warriors, but I did save a lot of money on car insurance by not bothering to call Geico (which, surprise surprise, I don't own).
Chapter 7: Choices
Long, somber silences seemed to pervade most of the allied army's march. If the wanderings of her own mind were anything near the norm, Shang Xiang decided, the outnumbered army was mentally preparing for what could quite possibly be one of the most trying days of their lives. She also suspected that the foot soldiers were having a bit of an easier time of it, for the movement of her mount, although rhythmic, often jostled her out of her thoughts.
Shang Xiang stole a glance toward her father and oldest brother, both riding to her left. They each wore a look of solemn determination. She smiled slightly, thinking how obvious it was that they were father and son. She couldn't help but wonder, though, what things Wei had done to deserve such severity, aside from her own kidnapping. Surely her treatment as a peon wasn't a representation of the kingdom's entire hierarchy.
"Sis?" Sun Ce had moved closer to Shang Xiang to speak with her. She looked up at him expectantly. "I'm sure you'll be fine, but if anything happens, Gan Ning and I'll be right there."
Shang Xiang smiled warmly at her brother. "Hey, worry about yourself. You're the one with a lover waiting on the battlements." It was true; a few prominent officers, Da Qiao included, had remained at Jian Ye just in case. By his distant look, Shang Xiang thought she may have pushed her brother too far. Moments later, however, he turned to her with a mischievous grin.
"You know, Shang Xiang," Ce began, "I'm surprised that Father hasn't arranged for your marriage." Her brother seemed about to continue, but then forced his whole attention ahead. The sudden disappearance of mirth from his face worried Shang Xiang. She followed his gaze and saw a very good reason for the grimness that had beset the entire army.
The valley below, neatly lined by steep hills, was half filled with Wei's forces. It seemed that the army had chosen to stop and wait out the storm rolling in from the east.
"Waste no time!" Sun Jian shouted, drawing his sword as others around him did the same. "We need to keep half that valley to ourselves!" The lord of Wu charged forward, the allied army surging ahead with him. The Wei army, despite its size, mobilized quickly and rose to the challenge of the allied forces.
Shang Xiang almost smiled as adrenaline rushed through her. As much as any place, the battlefield would be what she remembered, what she always knew as home. Familiarity gave her confidence as she, Sun Ce, and Gan Ning broke away from the main force to head for the left side. Instinct honed through years of combat training took over as the two armies collided.
The storm clouds that had merely threatened earlier now followed through with a moderate rain. Soon enough, the valley was all mud, blood and dead bodies. The hills lining the valley had become slippery and thus were eliminated as an escape route.
"Haha, good!" Gan Ning yelled, the rain plastering some of his hair to his face. "They've got nowhere to run but back the way they came!" The ex-pirate continued to run Sea Master through enemy after enemy.
Meanwhile, Shang Xiang squinted through the rain at the approaching group of enemies. The way the entourage was arrayed left her with no doubt that an enemy officer had grown tired of her slaughtering his men. Like him, Shang Xiang cut a path through the enemy, closing on her target. As the group prepared to confront her own unit, she felt an icy hand on her shoulder.
"It's him."
Slightly irritated by the spirit's dramatics, Shang Xiang dismounted and waited for the enemy to approach. She smiled in a feral manner as they neared her own group. "For Wu!" The princess shouted, closing the distance. Impatiently, she parried the blow of a common soldier with one chakram and ended his life with the other. All the other enemies around her were engaged in combat with others of her unit, save the Wei officer.
He smiled much the same way Shang Xiang had mere seconds before. "I'm Xiahou Dun," he proclaimed as he motioned Wu's princess forward, "come if you want to die!"
"Destroy him." Sao Li urged.
As if on cue, the famed cousin of Cao Cao began his attack. An experienced warrior, Shang Xiang parried his blows, searching for a hole in his technique. Xiahou Dun, equally battle-wise, kept his strikes measured and conservative, trying to draw the notoriously fiery daughter of Wu into fighting back.
Finally, he succeeded. As his bladed slashed in toward her left side, Shang Xiang crossed the rings of her chakrams, trapping his blade, and flung them in an arch away from her. With a quickness he hadn't displayed earlier, Xiahou Dun loosed his sword and moved to strike below her guard. Just in time, Shang Xiang parried. However, the pair was now weapon-locked; if either moved to attack, that move would be their last.
A triumphant smile rose on the Wei officer's face. He was undoubtedly more powerful than the woman before him. He would complete his mission.
Shang Xiang scowled at her opponent, apparently displeased with his confidence. As it was, he would soon break her guard. Inhaling deeply, she gave a bit of ground, watching Xiahou Dun's arm muscles tense as he prepared for one final, overpowering burst of force. He wasn't prepared for what Shang Xiang did next, however; she suddenly leaned back, causing the larger warrior to overbalance and launch forward at his opponent as she side stepped to avoid his blade. As it was, he narrowly missed her neck.
She pushed the explosion of pain in her left shoulder aside and delivered a knock-out blow to the back of Xiahou Dun's head. The duel complete, Shang Xiang reached to check her wound. Her fingers came back bloody.
"Shang Xiang!"
She whirled to find the source of the voice: Gan Ning, riding towards her at full speed.
"It's your brother! He's surrounded, and they're at least three deep!" Gan Ning was reaching down, obviously intending to pull her onto the horse's rump.
"No! He's right in front of you! Finish him!" Sao Li's voice boomed in Shang Xiang's head.
Ce's far more important to me! Shang Xiang thought viciously, hoping the spirit-woman could hear. She accepted Gan Ning's outstretched hand. He pulled her up behind him, not bothering to slow down.
"Finish them, Mei Ri!" She shouted to her lieutenant. The woman waved a hand in acknowledgement before delivering a fatal blow to her opponent.
By the time Gan Ning and Shang Xiang reached Sun Ce, he was surrounded by dead or otherwise incapacitated Wei soldiers. From his increasingly sluggish movements, they realized he was wounded. Gan Ning ran his mount right into a cluster of the soldiers before launching himself from the saddle into more of his unwitting victims. Shang Xiang dismounted less spectacularly, leaping into the center of the ring of soldiers to defend her brother's back.
"Guess you were right. I'm the one who needed to look out after all."
"Let's just finish this."
For a few moments, Shang Xiang managed to keep an eye on the movements of her brother and Gan Ning. However, when a particularly stalwart soldier confronted her, she lost track of the ex-pirate. Believing he could look after himself, she narrowed her world to her brother and the enemies within her reach.
Eventually, the number of bodies surrounding the siblings reached such a point that enemy soldiers were having trouble wading through their fallen comrades. Noticing the thinning tide at their flank, Shang Xiang had an idea.
"Down!" She yelled to her brother. He complied without question. Shang Xiang threw her right charkram in a wide circle, warding away some Wei soldiers and decapitating others. In the brief moment that she could see past her immediate surroundings, she noted that a red banner flew above her father's unit. The Wei forces were being pushed back.
"Get your brother and let's get out of here, kid."
Gan Ning had appeared out of the waves of combatants, leading an extra horse. When he was close enough, he handed the reins off to Shang Xiang, who mounted it with her brother. Confident that the battle would end in the allied army's favor, Shang Xiang followed Gan Ning away from the field without hesitation.
Eventually, the trio reached the hill they had charged from earlier. Relatively safe from the chaos of war, the three set to temporary wound treatment. The now-unconcious Sun Ce was by far in the worst condition; aside from numerous cuts and bruises, a long gash ran up his arm and another across his chest. Shang Xiang decided that her shoulder could wait, for it seemed the blood had already clotted.
"You were so close. Why did you give up?" Sao Li asked, obviously annoyed with her vessel's decision.
He's my brother. Shang Xiang thought back as she tended Ce's chest wound.
"Feh, I told you that you'd have a choice. You've made the wrong one, fool."
He's more important than my memories!
"But is his life more valuable than that of your collective kingdom?"
What?
There was no answer, which only served to anger Shang Xiang further. Furious, she tied a final, decisive knot in her sash, which now bound the wound on her brother's torso. She stood and pushed her hair out of her face impatiently.
"Let's take care of that now, shall we?" Gan Ning suggested, motioning to her shoulder. In lesser circumstances, Shang Xiang would have laughed at him. He talked about her wound, which was no longer bleeding, while blood flowed freely down the side of his head. He's valiant, I'll give him that.
"What about you? Or haven't you noticed that waterfall on your face?" Shang Xiang answered, more harshly than she had intended.
"Yeah, well, it'll take more than a smack to the head to get rid of me." Gan Ning retorted dismissively. "Now about that shoulder..."
Finally, Shang Xiang's anger flared. She considered him to be a friend, and friends don't let friends bleed to death. "Have you suffered debilitating damage to your brain?" She snapped.
"Hey!" Gan Ning yelled defensively. "I'm only trying to—"
"Trying to what? Kill yourself?" Shang Xiang snorted. "No way, you harebrained, reckless, bull-headed, pirate-turned-warrior!"
Gan Ning, for the first time in his recollection, glared death at the princess of Wu. "You didn't mind when it was Zhou Tai." He spat. He violently ripped a strip of cloth from his vest and set to tending his bleeding head.
Stubbornly refusing to apologize, not to mention confused by his words, Shang Xiang did what she could for her wounded shoulder.
--
Well, there be chapter seven. That's officially the longest I've been able to stick with one story, which bodes well. All told, Memories will probably be fourteen to twenty chapters long.
Has anyone noticed that Sun Quan is conspicuously absent? Because I just did. I guess I just never really cared about him. Well, he'll be there, and at least I have a semi-plausible explanation. (sigh) I'm slaughtering the real world timeline. (digs in a pile of papers for the "real world bad" kritik as a last ditch defense)
And, as usual and as promised, here is your Deep Thought:
Life is a glitch in the universal program; death is just a debugger's way of fixing it.
Please review, I implore you!