The Stranger

Thank you for all your reviews! So sorry for the super late update! I'm such a bad author! Over a month...:throws self in river:

Chapter 7: Duty

Zhou Yu looked up as a knock sounded on his door. He finished binding the sash on his robe just as Sun Ce opened the door and poked a smiling head through. "Hey, how was your night?" He bounded into the room, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement.

"It was as good as every other." The dark haired man answered, rubbing the sleep from his exhausted eyes. He had another one of those dreams, and as usual, it was fading from his desperate grasp before he could decipher it's meaning.

Sun Ce looked his sworn brother over carefully with his hazel eyes and took a step towards the door, "Come on, let's get some practice in before breakfast."

Zhou Yu brushed strands of hair out of his eyes, looking at the man in front of him quizzically. "Practice?"

"Yeah, you know, a duel with weapons?" A look of acknowledgment dawned on Zhou Yu's face, so Sun Ce continued, smiling. "And I figured, since you were feeling better now that the poison is all gone, we could spar!"

Zhou Yu smiled a bit sheepishly, "All right, but I can assure you that I am not as good as could be." Sun Ce waved an unconcerned hand and led his friend down to the weapons shed.

"Hey, if you're gonna be a push over, it's just one more mark for my stick!" He smirked, digging out his practice Tonfa from a pile.

"Your stick?" He looked at the door frame that Sun Ce pointed to quizzically. There were a few gashes in the wood, but not too many.

"Whenever one of us won, we'd always mark it with a gash. You've been ahead of me by one all these years, and today I'm going to pass you up, especially since you don't plan on giving it your all!" The man cracked his knuckles easily. "Yeah, lets go!" He tossed Zhou Yu a practice sword and they faced each other on the field.

Zhou Yu bowed to Sun Ce politely and stood to one side, Holding the sword down with his hands, until it almost touched the ground next to his back leg. Sun Ce couldn't help but give a laugh.

"What? Can't you face your opponent honestly? Whatever, enough talk, lets go!" He gave a smirk and the next second Zhou Yu felt his mind abandon his body. He blocked Sun Ce's erratic moves with a sort of mechanical state, going by pure instinct. He swung out in an well mastered stroke. His opponent dodged with a Tonfa, and the wood connected with a dull 'TOK' noise. Seconds later he was right on top of his opponent, sword glinting with power as he stabbed down with a quick jab. Sun Ce rolled out of the way and the sword hit the soft ground with a powerful stroke. Sun Ce stuck one Tonfa in the ground and rotated himself around, launching himself at his opponent with a well placed kick. Zhou Yu was thrown into the air, but with a twist, he landed back on the ground. Barely stopping for breath he attacked again, charging his foe.

Sun Ce charged as well, and they met in a deadlock in the center. Zhou Yu's limbs screamed on impact. His limbs burned, and he soon felt the hard ground beneath his back. "Give?" Sun Ce asked with a smirk, standing over Zhou Yu, holding his Tonfa ready. Zhou Yu flipped backwards over the ground and gained his feet. Dodging a hit from Sun Ce, he overbalanced and barely managed to keep his feet by flipping over his hand and managing to keep in front of his adversary.

Time started to pass by, like a blur of faces, moves, and close calls. He was starting to wonder if he was in the past or present, when Sun Ce knocked the sword out of his hands before the young conqueror fell inter the garden pond. Zhou Yu, snapped out of his daze, looked around, noticing that the high sun in the sky meant that it was almost noon. Helping the dripping Lord out of the pond, they compromised a draw, Sun Ce allowed half a dash on his frame, and put a gash on Zhou Yu's as well.

"Next time, I'll win," Zhou Yu was taken aback by the pure determination of Sun Ce's words. Never had he felt the power of will so strong as it was in the Wu lord's voice. He replaced his practice sword and knelt on the ground in one solid movement. The crisis in Japan flooded his thoughts, and he couldn't help but tear at his brain as to how to get back there.

"My lord. I fear I have wasted far to much time than I should have here. I need to return to Nihon and finish what I have started. (Nihon: Japanese name for Japan.) He bowed his head, letting his silky dark hair fall over his face, and dared not to look up, afraid of what he'd see. His head reeled suddenly, a flash of him looking at the same floorboards, and pledging himself to the same feet. He started to his feet, and jumped back on instinct, colliding with the rack behind him. It wobbled dangerously and toppled forward, knocking weapons out of there positions.

The hand reached out and pushed him out of the way just before the whole weapon rack toppled on top of them. He collided into the far wall, and tripped over a helmet that had been laying on the floor. He saw the knife seconds before it hit him. Swinging his hand out, he knocked it aside, wincing as it imbedded itself into his leg. The shelf collided with the ground a second later. Zhou Yu let out a strangled yell as Sun Ce's form disappeared under the toppling structure.

"Lord Sun Ce?!" He gasped, pulling the knife out of his leg with a wince. He scrambled to lift the structure; slipping as his injured leg shuddered under the added weight, shooting sparks of pain into Zhou Yu's brain.

"Hey Yu, you're bleeding, are you okay?" Sun Ce's voice sounded from behind him, and suddenly the lifting of the shelf became so much easier. Zhou Yu whirled as soon as the shelf was upright, and saw Sun Ce standing there uninjured save for the bruises that he had received during their practice.

"I thought you were under the shelf," Zhou Yu murmured, brushing a hand through his dark hair in relief. Sun Ce gave a quick smirk, looking at the weapons littering the floor.

"Yeah, I thought so to...at first...But I was just beyond the reach...although I did stub my toe..." He gave the dark haired man a 'pity me' look. Zhou Yu smiled. "Perhaps we should have it looked at then."

Sun Ce let the face drop and clambered over the weapons to the door, helping Zhou Yu to do the same. "Sheesh... you sure are different from how you used to be. The other you would have just rolled his eyes or something and stalked away." The chestnut haired man led him into the castle to get his would looked at.

Zhou Yu fell into step a few feet behind him, the words 'other you' chiming in his ears like Gan Ning's bells. "Oh and Yu," Sun Ce turned around and lifted Zhou Yu's head up until they shared eye contact. "If going back is what you need to do, then you should go back." The fingers fell, and Zhou Yu looked over to the side, gripping the sides of his sleeves.

"Thank-you my lord." A sudden arm around his shoulders made him crumple.

"But I'm going with you of course!" Sun Ce beamed, giving a wink. Zhou Yu's stomach jolted.

"No, you have a kingdom to look after!" Sun Ce waved an untroubled hand.

"I trust my friends and family to keep it safe for half a year." Sun Ce gripped Zhou Yu tighter. "I just want to see you again, so I'm going with you to make sure you come back."

xXx

Zhou Yu's leg still throbbed as they left the country of Wu, galloping towards the sea at high speeds. The ancients sword was strapped to his waist, and a man that would help was beside him. The moon was rising and the waters shined from its illumination. The waters that would carry him back to the thing that he had to accomplish before it was too late.

The country he had to save, and the people he loved...all depended on him returning to them. Debts he had to fulfill before he could return back to China.

Before he could find his past, he had to save a future.

TBC...

The endings weird I know, and its short yes. But its all I could do. They're finally moving forward tho! And this time Sun Ce is with him!

Please review!!!