Lu Xun awoke with the taste of blood in his mouth. His head was pounding and every muscle in his body ached. He opened his eyes but there was a black wandering haze that obscured his vision. His stomach lurched. He could hear voices not far away and he lay quietly, straining to hear what they were saying.

"…Yes, he … quite a state when we found him…"

"… Where … find him?"

"… His horse… near the gates…"

"Thank you… Master… soon be here to pick him up…"

The voices faded away as they walked further from him.

"Stay calm, stay calm… so they caught you, don't worry you got out once…" Xun thought shifting but as he did so he became aware of something, he was lying on a couch with covers pulled up to his shoulders.

"Ok… That's new…" He thought… "Have to get my eyes open…" He thought, taking a deep breath.

He slowly opened his eyes but he could still see nothing but a dark haze. It was too much. He quickly shifted to the edge of the couch and threw up over the side.

"What was that?" The voices called from the other room.

"Now you've done it!" Xun thought. He could hear the footsteps getting closer.

"Think of something, quick!" He thought to himself but nothing came. Not only was he alone and in the hands of the enemy, now he was blind! Brilliant!

"I think it came from in here..." The voice said

Do something!

His muscles battled against every move he made as he tried to sit up.

Have to run, it's the only way…

The footsteps came closer.

"Lord Lu Xun! You're awake!" The voice called.

Lord Lu Xun?

"Sir! You mustn't get up you've had a bad fall…" The other cried.

He fought back every urge not to and blurted out "Where am I?"

"Its alright sir, Lord Zhou Yu is on his way."

The sudden relief washed over him. Zhou Yu was coming! He had made it into Wu territory. He was safe.

He started to laugh he was so relieved. He lay back down and rested his head.

"You got hit pretty hard, we were surprised you made it through." A man's voice said.

"Well, they say I'm tougher than I look." Xun sighed.

"How do you feel?" A woman's voice asked.

"Well… apart from the splitting headache, muscles that feel like I was ravaged by wolves and the fact that I can't see anything, I feel terrible." Xun said.

"Hmm… The doctor said you might loose your sight for a while, he said the wound was so severe it looked like you were hit twice!" The woman said.

"Yeah, at least you don't have any of the other side effects, the doctor said you could even have lost your memory!" The man's voice said.

"Yeah… I still remember everything." Xun said pondering.

There was a knock at the door and the woman left to answer it.

"Welcome my lord." The woman's voice echoed down the hall.

"Where is he?" The all too familiar voice said.

"This way."

Xun listened to the footsteps across the wooden flooring.

"Lu Xun! It really is you! We thought you were dead."

It was Zhou Yu's voice.

"Zhou Yu!" He called and tried to open his eyes again.

He could roughly see the blurred outline of Zhou Yu's exquisite red robes and the blade hanging at his belt.

"No! Don't try to open your eyes, you need the rest!" Zhou said, resting his hand on Xun's shoulder. It reminded Xun of Zhang Liao…

He suddenly sat up.

"Xun, no you need to rest…" Zhou shouted.

"Wei is planning on invading our borders!" Xun yelled.

"Its alright, we know all about it, we've got a spy in the castle beyond the fifth gate, Wei won't get far." Zhou said calmly.

Xun relaxed. They weren't in any danger.

The door knocked again and there were more footsteps.

"The doctor is here lord Lu Xun." The woman said.

"Nice to see you awake, how are you feeling sir?" A gruff new voice said.

"I can't see anything!" Xun said bluntly.

"Oh, that's quite normal after an injury of your calibre. I have something for it here…" The doctor said. He rummaged in, supposedly his bag for a while and poured a liquid.

"Drink this all at once…" The doctor said, putting the cup to Xun's lips. It smelled like bad eggs and tasted worse.

"There… give it a few minutes then try and open your eyes again." The doctor said.

Xun screwed up his nose, the taste was still there but at least he couldn't taste blood anymore.

He eased his eyes open again and the haze had started to clear, he could see the concerned faces of the people standing above him. His vision was still fuzzy but he didn't mind. It had been like this for the past few days.

"Can I take him back to our main camp now doctor?" Zhou Yu asked.

"I think it would be best, he needs to keep relatively active, we can't have him sleeping or he could… well lets just say he needs to keep awake ok?" The doctor said.

Zhou sighed with relief.

"Can you get up Lu Xun?" Zhou asked.

"I think so." Xun said pulling himself to the edge of the bed. His muscles screamed. He stood up shakily. His hat and blade were on the table next to him. He donned the hat and tucked the blade into his belt.

"You just have to get outside," Zhou said rushing to his side to support him. "You're horse is waiting." He turned to the two owners of the house. "Thank you for everything, we'll send you gifts as soon as we return to camp."

Zhou Yu Helped Lu Xun outside and there as promised waited his horse and Lu Meng.

"It really is him! You ok there Xun?" Lu Meng said.

"Don't ask!" Xun said vaulting up onto his horse.

"Oh, I almost forgot… " Zhou Yu said, wandering over to his horse. He found the twin of Xun's blade and handed it back. "I think you dropped this." Zhou Yu laughed.

"We never stopped looking for you, even though it did seem bleak when we found that." Lu Meng said.

"Thanks." Xun smiled. He hurt but he could make it back to camp. This was the last thing he had to worry about.

The three rode off towards the main camp.

Lu Xun could feel every bump in the road in his fatigued limbs.

"We'll have to pass through the battlefield, some Wei forces are still putting up a resistance." Zhou Yu said as they crested a hill.

"Who is the inside man anyway? The one who tipped us off about Wei's attack." Xun asked.

"She is a serving girl, goes by the name of Violet locust." Zhou Yu said.

Lu Xun understood. She had been looking out for him the whole time, making sure he was safe but he hadn't noticed.

Soon they could see where the roads were littered with arrows, discarded weapons and blood. The battle had happened here.

Two bloodstained soldiers came rushing out of the trees. Xun jumped for a second but was soon relieved to see they were wearing Wu colours.

"Master Zhou Yu, We have isolated Zhang He and Zhang Liao's units on the hill, what should we do?" One soldier said.

Zhou Yu turned to Lu Xun. "You'd better ask the Van leader." Zhou Yu said.

Lu Xun thought for a second. Destroy Wei's men and bring Wu one-step closer to ruling the land, or spare his old friends for their kindness to him.

"Let them go. We want the land, not them." Lu Xun said.

"As you wish." The soldiers said rushing off.

On the hilltop Zhang He and Zhang Liao stood back to back surrounded by Wu troops.

"Well, I think it's fair to say we messed this up big, so, surrender or die fighting?" Zhang He said readying his claws.

"The honourable way." Zhang Liao said setting his spear to strike.

Zhang He sighed. "Why don't they ever say surrender?"

As he said this two more Wu soldiers ran up the hillside shouting. "Everyone, pull back!"

As quickly as they had been surrounded, the men were gone.

The two stood quietly for a moment looking at each other.

"Ok, what just happened?" Zhang he asked.

Liao laughed looking up at the sky.

"What exactly I so funny, we almost died!" Zhang He growled.

"Look, up there. The swallows are dancing." Zhang Liao laughed.

Zhang He looked up and indeed, the little birds were darting through the sky like arrows.

"I think he just found a way to repay us…" Zhang He laughed.

The three tired warriors had reached main camp, the doors were opened and their horses led inside.

"You faring ok?" Zhou Yu asked.

"I'll be fine!" Xun laughed. Although he appreciated the concern he resented the fact that everyone thought of him as their little brother.

They took Xun to his tent and he was about to go inside when Lu Meng stopped him.

"Where have you been these past few days anyway?" Lu Meng asked.

"I don't remember." Xun smiled.