Just so you know, I was listening to 'Children of Decadence' by Children of Bodom while I was writing the first bit- sorry for the short and not very detailed explanation of their first battle, by the way.
Oh, and thanks for the REVIEWS! Sorry, though, to The Providence Crow...I don't think I can fit Sima Yi/Zhang He into this story. Sima Yi is going to be paired with Zhuge Liang. If I did do that pairing, Sima Yi would end up killing He. Hee hee! Sorry!
And thanks to Silver Marquis! I might use that name when I update chapter seven, but it sounds really familiar. I'll check it out. Oh, and the reason why it's named Shei, is because two of the kingdoms start with the letter w, and two end with the letter u, so I figured I should use sh and ei to even things out! -
Thanks also to Soukatsu! You guys have helped me get inspired to write this chapter!
Note you must read: In this story, Xiahou Dun and Cao Cao are not related. I am not going by the real history. I made up most of the names of the places, too.
War.
Swords clashed, sweat dripped, feet danced, people died. It wasn't pretty, but it needed to be done. Some cried as they killed, such was the sadness of this thing people called war. Others smiled at each person that fell, thinking they had won the battle when the guilt of watching their prey die would haunt them for the rest of their pathetic lives.
Souls left bodies as the automatic drive to kill took over every skilled fighter's body, and they found themselves tearing everyone to shreds in their desperate struggle to settle the roaring fire that was boiling within their hearts.
People ducked as hordes of arrows soared through the skies in symphony, lodging themselves into people's chests and urging their life to flow from their bodies. Everything screamed of death, reeked of rotting flesh and dried blood. Everyone moved with a united desire to murder anyone that stood before them, barely missing their own allies' necks as they swung their swords and hammers relentlessly.
In the future Shei would be looked upon as savage killers for this one battle. Most people would say that war was a thing of strategy and intelligence - that one must avoid battle at all costs, but this one fight would forever be an acception. They fought maliciously for the subtlety of hiding afterwards. They cut heads from shoulders and stained flags with blood for the hope of a short peace afterwards to gather more strength. This first battle of the fourth kingdom was fought with no tactics - the commander had ordered every opponent killed, no prisoners, and no one to be let escape.
The officers head spear-first into the coming hordes of men, taking out all they could in their moment of glory until their troops followed up. Forever men would be awed by the few men that died in this battle with no rules or laws. Children would fear the stories of the men that marched forward to claim their own base to fight the other three kingdoms. People would try to copy their vigour an strength in future wars, but fail horribly at their sad attempts to immitate the savage. The author of 'The Art of War' would have scowled at the foolish antics of Shei if he had been their, having them all beheaded for their stupidity.
But they won. And the flags of the fourth kingdom would be coloured with a rainbow of blood, metal and ashes.
Looking down at the soft neck of his horse, Lu Bu trudged onward under the dark canopy of trees. He had been travelling for four long days in an attempt to flee from a town he had been staying. It was a nice place when he got there, and everyone seemed friendly enough, but after a few months someone had been found murdered in the bar he was frequently seen at. Of course, Lu Bu, being known as a savage murderer, had been accused right then and sentenced to death. But why would he of all men have to die such a ridiculous death? It wasn't right.
So he left. And then they followed.
He had already gone through Shu and Wei, and so had decided to seek refuge in the renowned kingdom of Wu instead. He had travelled for four long days, and he was getting tired.
Gan Ning laughed loudly and took another swig of wine. He smiled brightly as he tasted the sweet grapes in the concoction, thanking whatever god had caused Xun to pick such a wonderful place to stay. It had turned out to be a city famous for its wine - famous! Of course, Xun hadn't been too happy to find this out, but Ning was dancing with joy! The wine was so delicious that he had already drank three glasses - and the party had just started!
But he wasn't drunk - yet. No, he could still tell who was who, and understand most of the words people were saying. There was only a thin fog over the room, and he hadn't begun to hit on random people. He wasn't planning on any of it to worsen, either, he thought, finishing his fourth glass and refusing more. He had just moved into a new castle with his former enemies running about it,and he was going to stay as alert as he could...
"Would you like some more wine, pirate?"
Spinning around in his chair, Ning spotted the mocking expression of one Ling Tong staring back at him.
"And why would you be offering me wine?" he flushed as he found his words were beginning to slur.
Ling grinned evilly.
"No reason. I just thought that this might be the perfect occasion for me to kill you. No one would suspect me if you were murdered, wandering the dark corridors in the middle of the night, unaware of your surroundings..." he glanced over Ning's shoulder, "They'd probably suspect Sima Yi."
Turning again in his chair, the pirate found himself staring at a group of people he thought never could be together. It was amazing! It was crazy! It was -
"Holy fuck!" Ning suddenly exclaimed, spinning back to look at Ling, "Zhuge Liang is here!"
The other man gave him an obvious look before picking up his glass and taking a sip.
"Yeah," he said, "he's on our side now."
On their side? On their side? They had Zhuge Liang on their side! Suddenly, the cautious feeling Ning had felt previously flitted away. They had the greatest strategist to have ever lived on their side. Who the hell cared if he got drunk in the middle of the night? The wine base of Shei would forever be the safest place on the face of the earth for the rest of eternity now!
Filling his glass to the brim with wine, Ning guzzled the entire thing back and stood drunkedly before Ling Tong.
"Cheers!" he said, spilling a bit of the wine on both of them, "We've got the best fucking strategist in China on our team!"
He was quickly pulled back into his seat, though, and Ling hushed him loudly, signalling to the front of the room.
"-so, of course, after such an amazing victory, of course something rather unfortunate must come about..." Xun was standing at the head of the main table, announcing something thatseemed slightly hard to catch to the pirate, "I hadn't expected so many to hear of this new kingdom coming about, and so I hadn't arranged to catch a large castle. Soon, though, after our name has spread, we will be able to move on to greater things, but..."
The strategist shifted slightly, sweeping his eyes over the room and edging away from a rather violent looking drunk.
"Because of the size of the kingdom, the soldiers will have to sleep in the lower levels, in the small rooms by the wine cellars. Sorry...I really am. There are six rooms left for the higher officers."
What? Ning shook his head joyously at the sound of everyone sighing. He hadn't really caught what the young boy had said. Something about wine and soldiers? Yeah, that sounded about right.
"I'm relieved," Ling said quite suddenly, "I thought something bad had happened. Of course we all expected this! But then...that means I'll have to share a room with someone...hm..."
As he scanned the room for something, Gan Ning took a few minutes to try to understand what he had said. When it finally clicked in though, his happy drunkedness went into action.
"Oh!" he grabbed Ling's arm and tugged it frantically, "You're my partner! You're mine! We have to get the best room! Hurry!"
The other man, obviously seeing the childishness in his actions, stared at him and said, "You're drunk."
The pirate contemlated this for a few moments, before agreeing joyosuly and looking around the room.
Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were walking up to Lu Xun and Katana, the pairs being quite obvious; Cao Pi was speaking to Zhao Yun with an a look of reluctant determination, glancing every so often at the door; Zhuge Liang was nodding respectfully at Xiahou Dun's words...and Sima Yi was making his way to the door with an evil grin on his face.
"Well, even if I wasn't drunk, I'd still want to get the best room - and it looks like you're going to have to be my roommate."
Xiahou Dun rolled uncomfortably onto his side. He rather didn't like the idea of sharing a room with his former kingdom's rival strategist. He would have gone with Pi, but the man was going to stay in with his other officer, Zhao Yun, to keep an eye on him and make sure he kept his promise. Sima Yi would have been his next choice, but he had already been running off to get his own room by the time Dun had finished speaking to Pi...
"Very good, Guan Yu. You're becoming a rather impressive fighter."
Dun scowled and looked away, well aware that he wasn't going to get praise for what he had done on the battlefield, no matter whose life he was trying to save.
"You may take your leave and rest before the celebration."
Guan Yu nodded, leaving the tent abruptly.
A rather long, tentative silence followed this, in which Dun had turned away to avoid Cao Cao's burning gaze. He didn't regret what he did in the fight, but he still couldn't bear that look that his friend was giving him.
"Xiahou Dun." Cao said formally, "What you did in that battle was not what would be normally looked upon as worthy of praise. You could have been killed, and the unit would have continued onward to the main camp, where we would have been defeated. You acted out of feeling, not strategy. Where you should have gone back and informed the other officers of such a strong force approaching, you charged onward and engaged in battles with not one other soldi-"
"Cao-" Dun spun around, "You were lying there with a broken leg! They were less than one hundred paces away!"
"Dun-" Cao warned, dropping his superior act.
"No. Do not waste your breath on scolding me, Cao. I am your friend before I am your officer. If youare ever in that position again, I would do it all over! I was so scared! I thought you were gonna...gonna..."
His lips quivered and he found that he could no longer speak. He mentally chastised himself as tears began to flow down his cheeks. He looked down, trying to hide them.
"Dun..." Cao sighed, coming forward and wrapping his arms around his best friend, "It's alright, we're alive..."
Dun hugged him back.
"I kn-know, but I was s-so sc-ared."
Dun's face flushed at the memory of that little scene. He wondered briefly why that had come drfting into his mind at such a time, but found himself unable to bear the thought of his missing commander. He briefly heard Zhuge Liang lay down on the other side of their one bed, before he pulled the pillow over his head.
With desperate hopes that Cao was still alive, he cried himself to sleep.
I know, I know...short again, but these small filler chapters are desperately needed. I can't make it too rushed, no matter how much I want to get the story going. Please review, it would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and when chapter seven comes up, so will the new name! I need more ideas, so I can combine them all and have the best ideal title for this. So if you're looking for this story a while from now, don't be looking for 'If I Were A Soldier.' Just look for a DW story under my penname, 'Inky the Bird.'
And, I hope you all should know by now that the pairings are: Zhou Yu/Sun Ce, Zhao Yun/Cao Pi, Cao Cao/Xiahou Dun, Sima Yi/Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun/Rakesh Siyamak (Katana), and Gan Ning/Ling Tong (not in any order). Sorry if you don't like my pairings...I wanted to remind you all, though, that this story is based mainly on romance, so sorry if the plot sucks and things are too cliché. I'd really like some ideas for the pairings too. Oh, and nearly everyone will be out of character. I'm not good with DW characters.
Love you all! Thanks again for your reviews!
