Disclaimer: Still own nuthin'. Please send money. D
AN: Can't think of anything. :P The battle sequence is following DW4, (y'know, Battle of Xia Kou, Attack of the Nanmans, Battle of Chi Bi) so the next battle in line is Attack of the Nanmans. Just so ya know.
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Ugh... where the hell am I?
I sat up and noticed I was sitting in a nice soft bed, with Quan leaning over me, looking concerned. "Shang Xiang! Are you alright?" he asked.
"Quan.. what the hell happened? Did Cai Mao kill me? Am I dead?" I asked, rubbing my head.
"No, he didn't, and you're NOT dead. Cai Mao trapped you in the fortress and set it on fire, but this young man heard your screams and broke the door down. He made his way through the inferno in there and he saved your life, Shang Xiang. You owe Gan Ning your life."
"WHAT?" I screamed. "GAN NING rescued me?"
"You bet I did," a voice said, and Gan Ning in the flesh walked into my tent. "I heard screaming, so I figured, why not do something nice for once? So I busted in there, found you unconcious, and carried you back to your tent."
"Thank you," I said stiffly. "I'll try to remember this when my leg finally heals." I got off the bed, jammed my feet into my shoes and made to storm out, but Quan grabbed my arm.
"Shang Xiang, what are you talking about?" he asked.
"You see my leg, Quan? I got into a fight with your beloved Lord Gan Ning and he knocked me over quite roughly, causing my leg to snap," I snarled. "Now if you'll excuse me."
"Yeah? Have you seen my arm lately, you little--" Gan Ning cut himself off, probably remembering he was standing in front of the Wu emperor. "I mean, I'm terribly sorry, m'lady. Please forgive me."
Two words: SUCKING UP. I swallowed my fury and said, "Fine."
"Oh, and that reminds me. What happened to your boyfriend?" Gan Ning asked. "Was he stuck in that fire with you? Because if he was, I didn't get him."
"Ling Tong is NOT my boyfriend," I snarled. Oh yeah. "Quan, where is he? Is he alright?"
"He's fine," Quan said. "I took him to the medic tent and according to the guard in there, he was tired so he went to sleep. Oh, and the guard insisted that he was to have no visitors, since he was "very tired"."
"Alright then, I'll go see him right now," I said, properly tying my shoes so I didn't trip.
"Um, she insisted he have no visitors," Quan repeated, but I shrugged.
"Quan, I've met this woman. She nearly knocked me out of the way just so she could look at him. If she's insisting on no visitors, she's probably molesting him or something." I said, pushing Gan Ning out of the way.
"Hey, watch where you're going, woman," Gan Ning growled. He took another look at me. "You ARE a woman, right?" he said and laughed.
This guy was truly an idiot. He blantantly hits on me, and then he questions whether or not I am female. "Get out of the way," I snapped, and stormed off.
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"I'm sorry, Lady Sun, but Lord Ling Tong's asleep," the lady guard from before said. "Besides, what's to see? He's asleep."
"So? I'm not gonna wake 'em up! I just wanna see him!" I said. "Move it, by orders of the emperor!"
The lady guard rolled her eyes and, very reluctantly, let me in. Sure enough, Tong was sleeping, (I noticed his clothes lying on the ground-- ew!) and I walked over to him and, risking my eyesight here, pushed the blanket out of the way. Alright, he still had his pants on. Whew.
At least the stupid woman managed to bandage him up right. "Hey, these bandages are all bloody," I said, pointing.
"Huh? Oh, that's alright. Bleeding is natural," the guard said, not removing her line of vision from Ling Tong's chest.
I leaned down and poked Ling Tong on the shoulder. "You're awake," I hissed.
"You caught me," Ling Tong said, sitting up and grinning at me. I glanced up at the lady guard. "Can you excuse us?"
"Y-yeah... whatever..." the guard said, stomping out.
"Alright, get up and get dressed," I said. "Unless you want this crazy woman molesting you any longer."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up," Tong said, hopping out of his bed and pulling his shirt back on. "So what's going on? Did you kill Cai Mao?"
"No. I beat the hell out of him, even threatened to kill him... but I felt sorry for him at the end and I let him escape." I said, as we left the tent.
"Bad idea, Shang Xiang. You can't show anyone mercy on the battlefield."
"Yeah, well, I learned that the hard way. It's a long, painful story. So, tell me," I said, changing the subject, "How many times did that crazy woman try to molest you?"
"Only once, believe it or not," Ling Tong said. "I caught her the 1st time, when she was trying to pull my pants off. I stopped pretending to be asleep and told her flat out that there's nothing wrong with the contents of my pants and I'd prefer to keep them up."
I smiled. Knowing Ling Tong, that wasn't what he said, but I didn't care. "I'm just glad this stupid battle is over. I'm getting bored with it," I said.
"Oh yeah? Are you going to sneak out to fight in the next one, too?"
"No," I said, grinning, "I'm gonna storm up to my brother and DEMAND he let me fight in the next one!"
"You WANT more wars? I'm perfectly okay with peace time, to be honest. All this fighting is murdering me."
"And your father," said the irritating, insensitive, and more familiar by the minute voice of Gan Ning, who was walking over to us. "Kid, I'm awful sorry 'bout that. I never woulda killed the guy had I known his son was an unstable nutcase."
I had already grabbed onto Ling Tong's arm to prevent him from killing Gan Ning, but when I heard the unstable nutcase part, I let go and Ling Tong didn't hesitate to pound him in the face.
Watching the two of them try to kill each other was quite amusing, until my killjoy of a brother came up next to me. "Hello, Shang Xiang," Quan said, nodding to me. "I see you've reconciled with Lord Gan Ning."
"Say WHAT?" I asked. "He's right there! Tong's killing him!" Right now Gan Ning had a handful of Ling Tong's brown hair and was pulling on it, and Ling Tong was kicking him in the leg. Quan apparently realized "this was a bad thing" and screamed, "STOP IT!" quite loudly.
Ling Tong got up, reluctantly, and I grabbed him by his arm before he toppled over. Judging by the increasing bloody stain on his clothes, I figured his wound opened up again, since that stupid woman was too busy gawking at him to bandage him up right.
"Sorry, Lord Sun Quan. This stupid kid just attacked me and his girlfriend didn't stop him. Maybe you all should get outta here before Huang Zu gets back!" Gan Ning said, running his hand through his spiky brown hair. "That is, unless you got the guts to take Huang Zu on yourselves!" he added, glaring at us.
"Ugh... Shang Xiang, leggo!" Ling Tong whined, trying to break free.
I stood my ground. "No. Calm down or your wound is going to get worse."
"Who cares? It's just a stupid little scrape! Now lemme go so I can KILL HIM!"
"Ling Tong, shut up.Gan Ning, I-- Gan Ning? Where the hell did he go?" Quan asked.
"Hopefully he fell off a cliff and is lying somewhere bleeding to death," Tong growled. I couldn't help myself and laughed a little.
"Nah, screw that. I don't want Gan Ning to fall off a cliff."
"You don't? Tong, are you feeling okay?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine. I want to THROW HIM OFF the cliff. His death won't be as satisfying if he simply falls off one."
"You're crazy, you know that?"
"HEY! Shang Xiang, Ling Tong, SHUT UP!" Sun Quan said. "Instead of standing there flirting all day, maybe the two of you should help Gan Ning find Huang Zu! That's probably what he went to do, y'know!"
Before I could interject, a nasty voice yelled, "Who needs to find Huang Zu, when HE'S ALREADY HERE?"
Sure enough, Huang Zu in the flesh showed up, arrogant and sneering as ever. "Well if it isn't Sun Quan and his feeble little generals. I'll finish you off the same way I killed your father, you stupid, pathetic excuse for an emperor!"
"I'm gonna kill you for saying that, you--" I was caught off by Ling Tong grabbing my arm. "Hey! Lemme go!" I said angrily.
"No. You don't even have your weapons with you," Tong said, keeping a firm grip on me.
"SO? I don't need my chakrams! That bastard killed my father!" I nearly screamed, then stopped. Ling Tong knew exactly how I felt right now, what it was like to be looking into the face of your father's murderer and being restrained for your own good. I reluctantly sighed and stood down. "Dammit. Tong, how do you always know what I'm thinking?"
"Because it's never too hard to figure out."
Huang Zu turned to me and Ling Tong. "Once I've destroyed your pathetic emperor, what will I do with you two? The boy'll make a good cleaning maid, (Ling Tong yelled in outrage) and as for the girl, I could always use another concubine. God knows how I'm running through with-- HEY!" he yelled, feeling the impact as the pair of nunchakus I threw at him hit him in the face.
"Asshole," I snarled, ignoring Ling Tong's annoyed complaining since I just disarmed him by throwing his nunchakus. "Sun Shang Xiang is NOBODY's concubine!"
"Sun Shang Xiang? So you're Sun Jian's daughter! All the more reason for me to crush you both! Your scumbag father went down easily, and I'm sure you will too!" Huang Zu yelled.
"You god damned son of a BITCH!" Sun Quan screamed. "GO GET HIM, LING TONG!"
Before Ling Tong could do anything, (like complain) a familiar face yelled, from the top a nearby attack base, "Yo, Huang Zu!"
We all looked up. "Hey! It's that jerk Gan Ning! Again!" I yelled. Ling Tong growled and looked like he was ready to grab Gan Ning and rip him apart.
"Gan Ning? What the hell do YOU want?" Huang Zu asked. "Go kill the Wu scum!"
"Yeah, about that. I'm done letting a slimepot like you boss me around. Gan Ning doesn't listen to anyone!"
"Oh really? Well, Huang Zu doesn't take any garbage from worthless pirates!" Huang Zu snarled.
"Hey, it's you again!" Gan Ning said, noticing me. "I thought I told you and your boyfriend there to get out of here!"
"He is NOT my boyfriend!" I said angrily. "I don't take orders from you, you murdering scumbag!" Ling Tong said at the same time.
Gan Ning chuckled. "Yeah, well, feel free to stick around for the show, ladies. Sun Quan, I'll take care of this. I'd hate for you to get your hands dirty." He turned to Huang Zu and pointed his sword at him. "Huang Zu, I'm sick of you! Give me my paycheck already so I can quit your stinking army!"
Huang Zu looked enraged. "Over my dead body!"
"That can be arranged," Gan Ning said with a smirk. "C'mon, if you're not gonna pay me, you better crawl off your horse and fight me like a man!"
"GET HIM!" Huang Zu screamed at the elite troops surrounding him.
The troops looked at Huang Zu like he was on drugs. "Tch! No way in hell! You don't pay us enough to fight against Gan Ning!"
"Yeah! He'll kill us! Just like he did to that poor general, Ping Lao, or whatever it was!"
Oh no. I turned to Ling Tong, hoping he didn't pick it up, but instead he looked confused. "Ping Lao? Geez, what a stupid name. Some guys get all the rotten luck."
I rolled my eyes. Men are idiots.
"So much for your elite troops, Huang Zu," Gan Ning said with a sneer. I noticed a big red gash across Gan Ning's arm, the same one I made before, and felt a twinge of guilt. Then I glanced back over at Ling Tong and the guilt evaporated.
"Grr... I don't need my troops to kill a slimeball like you, Gan Ning! HRAH!" Huang Zu swung his blade at Gan Ning, who blocked easily.
"Geez... you can fight better than Huang Zu can, Shang Xiang," Ling Tong commented.
"So?" I asked.
"Meaning, sorry I held you back earlier, you could have taken him."
"Aw, don't sweat it. Gan Ning's gonna kill him anyways."
Gan Ning and Huang Zu fought a little more, pretty evenly matched. "Tch... Gan Ning, you can fight better than I gave you credit for! I'll give you that!" Huang Zu snarled angrily.
"Oh whatever. Save your second rate compliments 'til after I've beaten your lousy butt," Gan Ning said. "I don't have all day, so if you'll just lean over so I can kill you, that'd be great."
I could almost sense the anger rising in Ling Tong. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, trying to make him calm down.
Gan Ning kicked Huang Zu in the stomach, knocking him over. In a last ditch attempt to live, Huang Zu stabbed Gan Ning in the leg with his blade. Gan Ning winced but otherwise didn't seem to feel any pain from the blow.
"Gan Ning, you scumbag! I've been nothing but good to you!"
"Yeah, good to me like how? Treating me like horse shit? 'Accidentally' leaving me and my troops behind every time I win a battle for you? Ordering me around?" Gan Ning said with a snarl. "I'll see you in hell, Huang Zu," he said, and with a swing of his sword Huang Zu's head was cut clean off.
I couldn't help screaming and hiding my face in my hands. I'd seen violence before, and even caused it, but never THAT kind. Ling Tong pulled me in his arms so I didn't have to see anything else. As usual, even though he was standing before his father's murderer, Tong was making sure I was okay.
"You really are an animal," Ling Tong snarled to Gan Ning, hugging me a little tighter. "Is that... is that the same way you killed my father?"
"Who was your father again?" Gan Ning asked, speaking as though discussing the weather. "I'm sorry, I kill so many enemy troops a day I lose track over who's who."
Ling Tong angrily shoved me aside gently and picked up his nunchakus, which were lying on the ground nearby. "Tong, calm down," I said, grabbing his arm.
"Shang Xiang, get off me," he said angrily, shaking me off. No way in hell was I letting go. I wasn't going to let that revolting (yet very handsome) creep cut my best friend's head off.
"Gan Ning... you..." Quan said, standing up. "That is... that has got to be some of the most incredible fighting I've ever seen in my life! How would you like to join Wu?"
Gan Ning raised an eyebrow. "Join Wu, eh? Mmm... I dunno..."
"WHAT? Lord Sun Quan, you're not serious!" Ling Tong, said, trying to break free, but I kept a tight hold. "No way I'm letting go," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I'm not going to let that freak kill you!"
I guess he finally realized that if something happened to him and I had to witness Gan Ning chopping HIS head off, it would mortify me for the rest of my life, so he finally calmed down. "I promise you, though... I WILL kill him, Shang Xiang..."
Gan Ning and my brother, unfortunately, were having a serious discussion about joining Wu. "Hmm... what about her?" Gan Ning asked, pointing towards me.
"What?" Quan asked.
"You're talking about the benefits of being in Wu. What about her? The Princess?"
"I'm not sure I understand the question," Quan said, raising a confused eyebrow.
Ling Tong apparently understood. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder protectively and grabbed his nunchakus with his free hand.
"I'll try to spell this out for you. IF I JOIN WU, I WANT HER. Do we have a deal?" Gan Ning asked.
Quan opened his mouth, but before he did, I did. "Quan, do I have any say in this at ALL?"
"Sure, go ahead," Quan said,
"Good. Because before you go giving me away like I'm some sort of pawn, listen to this-- I would rather kill myself now then be forced to spend the rest of my life with this disgusting idiot. So if you're going to let a jerk like this join (and disgrace!) our ranks, don't expect me to give him ANYTHING, except a chakram to the face. Got it?" I said angrily.
"Sheesh. Fiesty," Gan Ning commented.
Quan shot him a look, and said, "Gan Ning, if you wish to gain my sister's hand in marriage you'll have to prove yourself worthy, like anyone else who wants to marry her will." He turned to Ling Tong. "Ling Tong, I don't know what you have against Gan Ning, but if you attack him one more time I will remove you from your general ranks, and you can forget anything about a promotion. Understood?"
"He killed my father," Ling Tong spat out angrily. "And I refuse to respect a murder like that!" He turned and stormed off.
Quan looked shocked. "Gan Ning, did you really kill Ling Cao?"
Gan Ning looked quite uncomfortable. "Yeah, I did... only because Huang Zu ordered me to! I was following orders from my commander! Kill the enemies, protect your allies!"
"You didn't kill me," I snapped, piping up. "I'm the enemy, too, but you spared my life."
"For the last time, Princess, I don't fight women, especially not Princesses," Gan Ning said.
"Yes, well... all of this, we'll discuss later. Right now, I want you to return to your tents and get some rest for tomorrow, when we return to Wu," Quan said.
"That's the best order you've given all day, Quan," I said, relieved.
Quan turned around and addressed some of the men. "Men, I want you to go out and see if you can recover Ling Cao's body. Hurry and you'll find it before it gets dark. Gan Ning, show the men where you left Ling Cao's body."
"Right. Got it." Gan Ning turned to the troops and yelled, "LET'S GO!" The troops raced off after him.
"Wow. Such impressive charisma," Quan commented. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."
"Shang Xiang, maybe you should go check on Ling Tong...?" Quan suggested. I shook my head.
"Quan, I think he wants to be alone now," I said. "He's still pretty upset." I turned and huffed off to bed.
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