Ch 6 – Fight between lovers
While Zhang He was getting his revenge on the thieves and bandits who had called him a woman, Cao Pi was retreating like all the others. Zhen Ji had been left behind because of her rude husband. She had fallen off the horse of his and was now trying to fight along side Zhang He.
"He! We won't be able to fight them all off by ourselves! We have to get out of here!" Zhen Ji yelled while using her dark moon flute to block a soldiers attack and parry it.
"I agree! There's no beauty in this battle!" Zhang He ran towards Zhen Ji and went to grab her arm, but instead grabbed an enemy soldier's arm. Zhang He didn't notice and continued to run, pulling the man with him and abandoning Zhen Ji.
"Why are you resisting so much Lady Zhen?!" Zhang He questioned as he struggled to continue his run. "And since when did you gain weight? Last time I remember you were as light as a …." He stopped short as he looked at who he was really pulling along. He immediately stopped, flinging the soldier over him. This apparently knocked the bandit out.
After, Zhang He turned back to the crowd that had almost completely engulfed the woman warrior. Zhen Ji was now in a deadlock with one of the bigger bandits. Zhang He noticed that was only a distraction for the men behind her to attack her from behind.
"Lady Zhen!" Zhang He immediately dashed to aid Zhen Ji, who was struggling against her opponent. Right as the man behind her swung his sword to kill Zhen Ji, Zhang He leapt in the way of the blood-thirsty blade. It sunk deep into his shoulder, spraying blood everywhere and leaving a deep wound behind.
This didn't keep Zhang He from counter-attacking. After the bandit withdrew his sword from He's shoulder, the Butterfly General took a step back and put his claws into an offensive position. He took a deep stance and launched himself at the bandit, slicing with his talons from the bandit's shoulder down to his abs.
Zhen Ji had finally won the deadlock she had been in for a while. After she beat the man down with her flute, she turned to see Zhang He kneeling on the ground holding his left shoulder. She ran over to him and knelt beside him.
"He! He!? Are you all right?!" Zhen Ji cryed as she saw the blood trickling down his arm. A large period of silence was the response. For a reason that Zhen JI wasn't quite sure of, she was incredibly worried for this man that sat in front of her.
As if on cue, the rain started pouring down upon the two warriors. The ground was covered with bodies, both dead and unconscious, along with a few broken bottles and some of Cao Cao's precious gold.
Zhang He broke the silence when he slowly began to stand up, the loss of blood effecting his strength. After a short hesitation, Zhen Ji also stood, still standing by his side.
"Lady Zhen…We're…going to have to find Lord Cao Cao and rejoin with the Wei forces. Once we reunite with them, we'll let them know that this battle is over." Zhang He spoke softly, his voice almost blending in with the sound of the rain. This tone of voice was rarely heard from Zhang He and Zhen Ji could tell something else was bothering the Peacock General. His voice, seemingly filled with sorrow, seemed to calm Zhen Ji from her worry. Something had definitely changed between the friendship the two held. Zhen Ji couldn't place her finger on what it was exactly, but if felt like the bond the two held as friends had gotten closer.
Zhen Ji nodded in agreement with his statement, even though he still had his back turned to her. Not only did Zhang He's forlorn expressions and actions comfort her in some unknown way, but it attracted her. For some mysterious reason, this tone of voice made her heart flutter. Maybe…she was falling in love with him? No, it couldn't be because she all ready belonged to Cao Pi.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Zhang He when he suddenly turned to face her. "It looks like this battle was won." He said, eventually giving a small smile to Zhen Ji. The woman warrior was surprised that he could smile and move after having such a deep wound in her shoulder. He acted as though nothing had taken place.
"Lady Zhen…are you coming?" Zhang He asked as he walked passed her. The flutist watched him as he passed by her.
"Of course, Zhang He. Why wouldn't I?" She told him sarcastically, hiding what she truly felt behind the icy cold tone of her voice. She turned and followed him.
"Most likely they would have went back only a few miles to regroup. If we just retrace our steps, then we should be able to find them." Zhang He said. Zhen Ji didn't hear him, instead she was too focused on organizing her emotions. They had never run wild on her like this before, not even when she had met Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi.
After the few miles of walking, both of the warrior's found Zhang He's hypothesis was correct. The Wei army did only fall back a few miles.
Zhen Ji walked up to Cao Pi, her hands on her hips. She stared him straight in the eyes, giving him a glare to scare, but it didn't affect him too much. They only stood for a moment, looking at each other. Then, Zhen Ji's hand came upon Cao Pi's cheek with a force, leaving a red mark.
"What was that for!?" He yelled, rubbing his now red cheek.
"You left me behind." Zhen Ji told him, pointing her finger in his face. "NEVER….leave me behind again." She hissed, turning her back to Cao Pi.
"You seem to have made it out just fine. There's no need for me to not leave you behind when my life could be in danger." Cao Pi retorted.
"Well, if that's the case, then you must be a coward."
"I'm not a coward! I need to stay alive so that when my father dies I can take his place as emperor!"
"You wouldn't make a very good emperor in my opinion."
"If you think that way then I guess I should call off this marriage of ours and find another woman who respects me."
"I don't care what you do."
The bickering between Zhen Ji and Cao Pi continued for fifteen minutes, the soldiers watching the ferocious fight. They were all amused until Zhang He stepped up and separated the two when they were about to start throwing punches at each other.
"Now, now you two. You can't win a war while fighting with each other. Right now the most important thing is to get our wonderful castle back from those bandits." He said as he stood in between the brawl. The two sighed and turned away from the Butterfly general, both saying 'fine' in unison.
"Now that's better! Let's get off to a graceful start and rid the castle of those pests!" Zhang He declared, giving one of his graceful poses. Everyone dead panned before sighing.
"He has a point." Cao Cao agreed, suddenly appearing through the crowd that had gathered. "Let's hurry back to the castle and reclaim what's ours!" With this, everyone cheered except for Cao Pi and Zhen Ji.
Everyone gathered into groups and mounted horses if they had one. Zhang He was walking still, but Zhen Ji was with him. She didn't want to ride with Cao Pi ever since their fateful fight.
"Are you sure your going to be all right Lady Zhen?" Zhang He asked as the army began marching in step. Zhen Ji never replied to Zhang He. She only turned her head to the side, making the Peacock General wonder. He sighed after a small silence gave him his answer. 'I guess I should give her some time to think about things…' He thought, looking up to the sky, marching with the troops. This fight didn't involve Zhang He….it was only between the two supposed lovers. This was a battle Zhang He decided to stay out of.
Okay...I don't really have much to say...except for REVIEW. So that way I CAN continue this. I haven't been getting reviews ( I know why though) so now that I actually updated something, I will definitely be expecting some...right? I can count on you guys right? Okay...that's what I thought. So review and I hope you enjoyed my story thus far!