I don't own anything. GET OFF ME.
I haven't given up yet-- here comes the next piece of the action! Suprise mystery character shows up in this chapter! Oh, and GN/SSX finally starts >>;;
CHAPTER 10
"Alright, fine, I'll walk! Quit dragging me!" I complained, now being rather painfully dragged down the stairs by the Qiao sisters. Da was lecturing us both on "proper manners" but the glazed look in Xiao's eyes told me she was tuning her sister out as well.
"I don't trust you, Shang Xiang," Da said. "The instant we put you down, you'll run off, probably to get those horrid weapons of yours."
I rolled my eyes. "Da, you know me too well. And whaddaya mean, HORRID WEAPONS? I love my chakrams! And they're better to fight with than your silly fans!"
"My fans may not be weapons, but I'm not a warrior," Da replied, but before we could get into another yelling match Xiao yelled, "Hey, we're heeeeeere!" Sure enough, the servants had gotten into the spirit of things and decorated the hall with red and gold banners, streamers, and there were tables upon tables of food. Yum.
"Alright, leggo," I said, and Da very reluctantly released my arm. "Now where did Xiao go...?"
"TONGIEEEEE!" Xiao shrieked outta nowhere, and before anybody knew it Xiao had tackled her cousin to the ground. "HI!" she said happily, beaming down at a bewildered (and terrified) Ling Tong.
"Hi, Xiao," Tong said quite unenthusiastically. "Can you get off me? I kinda need to breathe."
Da scurried over, dragged Xiao off Ling Tong, ("Thank god," Ling Tong muttered) and pulled him up to his feet. "Ouch, and thanks, Da," Ling Tong said, fixing his hair.
"XIAO! How many times do I have to tell you to STOP TACKLING PEOPLE?" Da asked, looking flushed. "Honestly, aside from the fact that you nearly killed our cousin, it's just not dignified!"
"Da, take it easy. It's not that big of a deal," Ling Tong said, obviously trying to prevent an arguement from breaking out. "Besides, I don't mind THAT much."
Xiao, on the other hand, looked like she was going to cry. "Sis, that was MEAN!" she whined, her gray eyes welling with tears.
"Xiao, calm down," Ling Tong said, turning to his other cousin. "You can still tackle me, alright? Just not every time you see me."
"YAY!" Xiao said, proceeding to tackle Ling Tong (again). "Alright I changed my mind. No more tackling. Now get off me." Tong said, pushing Xiao off.
"You two are mean! I'm telling Zhou Yu!" Xiao pouted, and stomped off.
"Must she always be such a baby?" Da wondered out loud, walking inside the hall.
I walked over to Ling Tong, who was still sitting on the floor, looking annoyed. "Hey. Need a hand?" I asked, leaning down.
Ling Tong looked up at me and his jaw dropped. "Oh, uh, hey Shang Xiang... sorry, I just can't remember the last time I saw you in a dress," he said, both trying to cover up his embarrassment and laughing at the "I'm-going-to-kill-you" look written on my face.
"Don't you go Qiao on me," Tong warned. "One of them tackles me every time she sees me, and the other treats me like I'm her superior officer or something. I want NORMAL relatives."
"Whatever. I just want to get in there and get this over with," I said gloomily.
"Aw, quit complaining. It's a party, remember?"
"Yeah, well, if you need me, I'll be hiding OVER THERE," I muttered, pointing to an innocent potted plant nearby, unknown that I was going to spend the evening hiding inside of it.
"Don't leave me alone in there! C'mon, what if my crazy cousins attack me again?" Tong whined, grabbing my arm and not letting go.
"FINE," I growled. "But don't expect me to smile, laugh, or say anything that's not along the lines of, 'I want to leave now!' Got it?" I said with a scowl on my face.
Tong laughed. "Yeah, whatever, Princess Moodswing. He released my arm and headed inside. I groaned. This night was going to suck.
Just before I headed inside myself, to get this horrible event over with, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around, and sure enough, Gan Ning was standing right behind me, wearing a dark vest, golden bells, and a big smile that made him look, if it was even possible, more incredibly handsome than he already was.
"Hey, Princess," he said. "I take it you got an invite to this thing, too?"
"Of course I did, the Sun Family's hosting it," I said, smiling. Tong wasn't around, I finally had the opportunity to talk to him without interruptions."Every Wu officer and general is invited to these things."
"I get it." He looked me up and down. "Y'know, you've probably heard this a thousand times already, but that dress looks damn good on you," he said, grinning big at me.
I felt my face redden (damn). "Um... thank you," I said, grateful that he at least noticed.
"No problem. So is your friend here?" Gan Ning asked, folding his arms. Although I knew Ling Tong would tear me limb from limb if he knew I was talking to Gan Ning, I couldn't help it; I liked him. He was different, rebelling from society. And the fact that he kicked total ass on the battlefield AND was a damn good looking young guy couldn't hurt.
"Yeah, he is," I said. "PLEASE try not to irritate him.. or talk to him, or look at him, or breathe anywhere near his general direction. I don't want something disastrous to happen."
"Fine, but if he picks a fight with me, I'm going to tear his tiny little--" I interrupted Gan Ning's tirade. "If he tries something, my brother (the Emperor) will break it up."
"Good. So, anyways, Princess--"
"You can just call me Shang Xiang if you like," I interrupted. "Nobody really calls me Princess around here."
"Alright then, Shang Xiang! Let's go!" And with that, Gan Ning grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the lavishly decorated Great Hall. As he yanked me inside by my hand, though, I never would admit it to anyone, but the feeling of his hand holding mine was making me feel like a little girl in love.
Maybe this night WASN'T going to suck!
Once we were well inside the Great Hall, (and Ling Tong hadn't noticed anything yet) Gan Ning let out a huge whistle. "That's a lot of food!" he said incredulously.
"Oh, that's nothing!" I said, beaming at the look of shock on his face. "Those are just the appitizers!"
"WOW. Huang Zu never had any of these fancy banquets or anything, he just got his cooks to slap some nasty crap on the table and let me tell you, it was every man for himself in there," Gan Ning said, helping himself to a meat bun.
"Well, now that you're fighting for Wu, you can get as much food as you want, whenever you want it. Just don't drink too much; remember there's a tomorrow!" I noticed Ling Tong waving at me. I reluctantly left Gan Ning and caught up with him.
"Hide me. Xiao complained to Zhou Yu that I was supposedly being mean to her, and now he's out for my blood," Tong said, looking around.
"Will you calm down? Zhou Yu can't do anything. He's a pushover." I said. It was true; Zhou Yu talked a fair game, but he wasn't one of the strongest Wu generals. He was mainly known for his amazing intellect. He was so smart, even I would admit his genius.
"Yeah, whatever. It looks like those maids over there are starting to serve the wine... which I can't drink for ANOTHER YEAR," Tong added with a growl. "C'mon, before I get mad again..."
We went over to where the other 3 non-drinking Wu officers were, Lu Xun, Da Qiao, and Xiao Qiao, respectively. Since Lu Xun was only 17 and the Qiaos were women, like me, we couldn't drink either. Most banquets went like this; the other generals went off and got wasted while me, Tong, Xun, Xiao, and Da sat back here and sulked.
"Wow, another year and I'll be old enough," Tong said excitedly. "Wonder what it's like, getting so insanely drunk you can't even remember your own name?"
Everyone else rolled their eyes. "Thank you for rubbing it in, Ling Tong," Xun said.
"At least in a couple years, you two CAN drink! Apparently it's unseemly for women to drink anything! So while all of you are off getting wasted and having all the fun, I'M stuck here, in a dress!" I said angrily, blowing off some steam.
"Cheer up, I'll sneak you some once in a while," Tong offered.
"You would do that? For me?" I said, happily.
"Probably not, I just said that to get you happy again," Tong replied.
Before I could kill Tong, my brother's voice carried throughout the hall. "Everyone, please, we're ready to eat! So come over here!"
"YES! Food!" Xiao said happily, jumping up and down. I rolled my eyes.
Everyone was sitting down. I sat down next to my brother, and Tong (as usual) sat down next to me. Lu Xun sat down next to Tong, and the Qiaos copped a squat in the two seats in front of me. Zhou Yu was seated next to Xiao; unfortunately, (for Tong) Gan Ning sat down on the other side of Quan.
"Oh, here, Gan Ning, take my seat," Quan offered. "You deserve to be center of attention on your first day here." Gan Ning agreed, and thanks to the seating adjustment I found myself seated next to Gan Ning himself.
"Hey, Shang Xiang!" Gan Ning said, grinning at me. "I'm liking these seating arrangements, aren't you?"
I refused to let my embarrassment show. "Yes, well, I always sit here," I said. Although I did like Gan Ning, and I enjoyed his presence next to me, it didn't help that Ling Tong growled like a tiger every time Gan Ning was in the general area.
"Tong, calm down," I whispered to my friend. Tong glared over me at Gan Ning. "He's trying to make you like him, Shang Xiang! It's all part of some crazy sinister scheme to kill everyone!" he said angrily.
Paranoid. "Just pretend he isn't there," I hissed. "Besides, if you piss off my brother, he might not give you that promotion you've been wanting!"
"Oh yeah. The promotion. I almost forgot all about it..." Tong mumbled. "Alright, I'll be good. But if he starts anything, so help me god, I'm gonna--"
"Attention, everyone," Quan said, interrupting Ling Tong and standing up. "I'd like to make a few announcements... TAISHI CI, do NOT drink that entire keg!" he yelled, apparently losing his train of thought upon noticing Taishi Ci lifting the entire keg of wine and trying to chug it.
Gan Ning snorted. "I could do that, easy," he said. "Hell, I could chug three of those in a minute!"
I was revolted. "I'm sure you could," I said.
"Heh, you've got no idea what I can do, Shang Xiang," he said, winking at me. I didn't know whether I should slap him or laugh. To compensate, my stupid female hormones caused me to blush. Damn.
"ANYWAYS," Quan said, switching back to Emperor mode, "as I was SAYING, I have a couple announcements. First of all, our late lord and my older brother, Sun Ce's widow Da Qiao here is expecting a child soon. It'll be good to have another addition to the Sun family." Da beamed and patted her still-tiny belly.
"Next, let's all toast to the death of a loyal to the end Wu general, and a good friend to all, Ling Cao. He will be missed profusely and let us drink to him in the afterlife." Quan said, raising his glass. We all followed. Gan Ning had the common sense to look guilty.
"Third, believe it or not, the commonfolk of Wu have informed me, by means of rioting, that it is "too boring" to live in Wu. Meaning, in the case of an invasion by our enemies, the people of Wu may choose to rebel against our forces. Before this happens, we need to think of some ways to keep these ungrateful idiots-- err, hard-working plebians-- of Wu satisfied. Any suggestions you can think of, float them by me for approval."
"And last, but certainly not least, and the main reason we are gathered here tonight, is to celebrate our victory against Huang Zu at Xia Kou! We have avenged the death of our late lord, and my father, Sun Jian, and I hear his joyful cries from the heavens." Everyone cheered. (Except Gan Ning, probably because he didn't know who Father was)
"And finally, I want you all to welcome a new general into our Wu family. Gan Ning, stand up." Gan Ning stood up, and one of the lady guards nearby dropped the tray of food she was carrying to gawk at him. "Gan Ning, tell us about yourself." Quan suggested.
"Uh, that's not such a good idea..." Gan Ning said, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Why? You don't have anything to hide, do you?" Ling Tong said, accusation written all over his face.
"'course I do," Gan Ning replied. "Everyone does. I've done some stupid things in my life, but I want to turn it around. And I guess joining Wu can help me do that."
"That's the spirit," Quan said, beaming at his new general. "I have a good feeling you'll be making me proud very soon, Gan Ning. Keep it up and you might just get my sister!"
At that point, I had taken another sip of water, and upon hearing my brother's words, gagged and choked. Tong was apparently too busy sulking to notice his best friend (me) dying, so Xiao hurridly ran over to me and thumped me on my back.
"QUAN!" I said furiously, once I regained the ability to speak. "What?" Quan asked innocently.
"Guys, cut it out!" Xiao whined, jumping up from next to me. "You're gonna scare the new guy away before he even gets to fight!" She stuck her hand out in front of Gan Ning, not intimidated in the slightest. "Hi! I'm Xiao Qiao!"
Gan Ning looked confused. "Um... hello," he said, obviously wondering what kind of drugs Xiao was on.
"Guess what! I'm married! To Lord Zhou Yu! Who's right there!" Xiao said cheerfully, pointing to her husband. Zhou Yu coughed in a greeting manner.
"I see. So, what is a little girl like YOU doing married?" Gan Ning asked.
"I am NOT a little girl! I'm 17 years old!" Xiao said angrily.
"Well, no offense, but I thought your 'husband' there was a woman," Gan Ning commented, obviously NOT knowing the right thing to say.
"Zhou Yu is a man! Why does everyone say that?" Xiao whined.
Gan Ning's eyes met mine, and I could pretty much read his mind- "This kingdom is crazy." And he was right.
"Well, it appears the main course is ready to be served, so let's eat, everyone," Quan said. "Xiao Qiao, go sit down."
"Yes, my lord!" Xiao said, bowing and scurrying off to her seat.
Gan Ning sat back down and turned to me. "So, is the food any good here?"
"I've grown up eating it, so I don't know much about other food," I replied. "But yes, I'd say it's good." Another lady guard was setting plates of steaming food in front of everyone. Gan Ning looked ravenously hungry and started eating with his hands.
Ling Tong, who was wiping his face with a napkin, looked revolted. "Heads up, freak, but civilized people eat with silverware," he said, glaring at Gan Ning.
"Yeah, you might want to try using a fork," I said hurredly, snatching an unused fork and giving it to him.
"I haven't used one of these in so long I almost forgot how to use the damn things," Gan Ning commented, wiping his hands on his pants ("Ew," Ling Tong said) and stabbing the piece of chicken vigorously with the fork. "Mm... this stuff's delicious," he said, talking with his mouth full.
Ling Tong, who liked everything to be like his hair, neat and tidy, apparently had enough with Gan Ning's manners. His hand reached towards one of the cultery knives on the table, and the look on his face suggested murder.
To be honest, if Ling Tong was going to try and stab Gan Ning to death with a kitchen knife, I wasn't going to stop him. This was disgusting! The man didn't know how to EAT properly!
"Quan," I said, sensing disaster. "Your superior general is a slob, my Lord," Da said, to Quan, her right eye twitching the same way it did when Ce ate like a slob. (which was all the time)
Xiao was enjoying this, laughing her head off. "Hee hee! Zhou Yu, lookie! He's retarded!" she squealed, obviously enjoying this.
Gan Ning apparently was done chewing, which we could all see, since his mouth was wide open. He swallowed, and once the chicken was gone, he burped. Loud.
The burp apparently broke the barrier of Ling Tong's sanity, and I watched as he grabbed the knife, got up and attacked Gan Ning. "WOULD IT KILL YOU TO EAT LIKE A CIVILIZED HUMAN BEING?" he screamed, the knife coming dangerously close to Gan Ning's head.
"LING TONG! STOP AT ONCE!" Quan ordered, sensing a murder.
I looked at the Qiaos. Da was muffling a giggle, and Xiao was rolling around on the floor, positively shrieking with laughter. Zhou Yu looked like he was trying not to laugh, and a lady guard pouring Lu Meng's wine was laughing so hard, she was pouring all the wine on Lu Meng's head.
"HEY!" Gan Ning screamed. "WATCH IT!" he yelled, knocking Ling Tong off him, onto ME.
"Oof," I groaned, feeling the impact of Ling Tong as he landed on top of me. "Sorry, Shang Xiang," Tong said, standing up. Unfortunately he didn't realize my arm was under the knife, and as he stood up, it dug into my skin.
"ARRRGH!" I yelled, jumping up and grabbing my wounded wrist. "Oh, Shang Xiang, I'm sorry!" Tong wailed, standing up and grabbing a napkin, helping me wipe my bloody wrist.
"That does it! Quan said angrily, finally asserting his authority. "You two are going to have to learn to get along better! Gan Ning, this is your first time causing trouble, so I'll let you off with a warning. As for you, Ling Tong, you should know better! You are banned from setting foot in this banquet hall for the rest of the night! Now get out of here, and go write me a 1,000 word essay on why you shouldn't attack your fellow officers with a kitchen knife! And I am counting!"
Instead of saying anything, or defending himself in any way, shape or form, Tong stopped helping me wipe my wrist up and stormed off angrily, screaming profanity I didn't even know he knew.
I turned to Quan. "Brother, Tong's been having a real hard time these past few days," I said, trying to make Quan relent on the essay, at least. I didn't think Tong even KNEW 1,000 words. (well, except for all that profanity he was screaming.)
"No, Shang Xiang," Quan snapped. "I know he's your boyfriend and you love him and all, but I'm not going to let him continously get away with attacking fellow Wu officers!"
Before I could interject, Gan Ning sat up from the ground and said, "HE's your boyfriend?"
"No! Tong isn't my boyfriend!" I said, embarrassed. DAMN my brother!
"Good," Gan Ning said. "Because I don't think he's worthy of you!"
I blushed. "Wh-what does that mean?"
Quan interrupted. "It would appear as though everyone is done eating, so feel free to mingle with everyone else. If you are over 21 years of age-- and you know who you are-- feel free to drink as much wine as you like! Just not the entire keg," he added, glaring at Taishi Ci.
Da and Xiao promptly stood up, grabbed me by my arms, and dragged me off to our little corner. "Shang Xiang, I want the truth," Da said.
"Yeah! Tell us right now!" Xiao ordered.
"Tell you what?" I asked, confused.
"You like that Gan Ning guy!" Xiao said, pouting.
"I do not! Look at him, he's disgusting!" I protested angrily.
"Uh huh. That's why you drink in every word he says, or look at him, or blush every single time he hits on you!" Xiao said.
"I DO NOT!" I nearly screamed. "God, the two of you are so damn annoying!" And with that, I stormed away from the Two Qiaos and sat down at a nearby chair, watching some of the guys compete in chug contests. Gan Ning was sitting alone in a chair nearby, watching, when Lu Meng turned around and offered him a turn.
Gan Ning hopped up, and, apparently noticing me, pointed directly at me, implying that he was doing this to show off in front of me. He then lifted up the full keg of wine, and chugged. And chugged.
My jaw must have been dropped. It was like he had a bottomless stomach! He just kept going, and going, like there was no stopping him!
And he wasn't done. Taishi Ci pointed to another nearly full keg, and Gan Ning grabbed it and drained it as easily as he drained the first one.
After 4 more kegs, in addition to the first two, were drained, Gan Ning finally appeared to be done. I suppose my jaw must have been dropped so low it was in danger of falling out of my head, because Xiao leaned over and pushed my mouth closed.
"Where did YOU two come from?" I asked.
"We wanted to say we were sorry, Shang Xiang," Da said, looking sad. "We didn't mean to bother you. We were just curious."
"Yeah, sorry," Xiao said.
"Aw, come on, you guys," I said. "Don't worry about it, I'm not really angry." God, those silly Qiaos were so damn EMOTIONAL!
"Yay!" Xiao said, giving me a huge hug that nearly choked the life out of me.
"Um, Shang Xiang? Pirate, at 12 o'clock," Da said, pointing that Gan Ning was headed right over here.
"Oh great." I muttered.
"Hey Princess," he said, his voice slurred. Yup. Judging by his bloodshot eyes, his slurred voice and his inability to stand up straight, it was pretty easy to tell he was wasted after chugging all that alcohol.
"So, tell me," he said, and I could actually smell the alcohol in his breath, "what are you doing tonight? I can make the two of us some reservations for my bed, if you're interested," he said, obviously implying the obvious.
That does it. I stood up angrily. "You've got some nerve," I snapped. Da and Xiao nodded in agreement, but I sure wasn't prepared for Gan Ning grabbing my throat, pulling me to him and kissing me.
My first thought-- Ew. Unlike our first kiss together, which was quite enjoyable, this time his entire mouth reeked with alcohol, not exactly my favorite smell. When he pushed his tongue in my mouth, my control snapped. I clenched my hand into a fist, pushed him off of me and pounded him in the eye.
Direct hit. He yelled and staggered back a few steps; then he regained control of himself and made to grab me again. I grabbed his wrists, and without any idea of what I was doing I threw him over me, slamming him into the table with the filled water kegs.
Oh no. He wasn't getting up.
"Shang Xiang, did you kill him?" Da asked fearfully.
"I hope not," I squeaked. If Quan found out I killed his new general, he'd skin me alive! Or worse, make me get married!
I hesitantly walked over to where Gan Ning's unconcious form was and grabbed his arm. I could feel a strong pulse, so he certainly wasn't dead.
"He's alive," I said, rolling my eyes, "but he's unconcious. We shouldn't have to worry about any more wasted pirates hitting on us."
I glanced back over to where the other generals were. They didn't seem to have noticed.
"You know what, you guys," I said, faking a yawn. "I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow."
"Good night, Shang Xiang," Da said. "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" Xiao said with a giggle.
I smiled at my friends and left the hall, happy to get out of that insane asylum. Watching your fellow generals get wasted was a sorry sight.
I walked down the hallway, wanting nothing more then to get back to my bed, when I noticed Ling Tong leaning against the balcony, looking outside. The view from the 3rd floor of the castle was amazing; you could see nearly all of Wu from it.
"Tong?" I said, causing him to jump and turn around. "Oh, hey, Shang Xiang," Ling Tong said, looking relieved. "Why so jumpy?" I asked.
"Well, if you'll recall, I'm supposed to be in my room, writing a thousand word essay on 'why I shouldn't attack my fellow officers with a kitchen knife', or whatever the hell it was..." Tong said, rolling his eyes.
"Still, even YOU have to admit that was funny," I said, laughing.
"Yeah, well... he killed my father, and I don't care what he does, he's an uncaring asshole and I hate him," Tong muttered.
I groaned. No sense trying to talk to him NOW. "Well, it sure is a nice night," I said, trying to make Gan Ning-free conversation.
"Yeah, it is," Tong said, not looking out towards the balcony anymore.
"Tong, please try to cheer up. I hate seeing you so sad," I said, squeezing his arm gently.
"Shang Xiang, I--"
He was interrupted by a loud "Hey!" from a person behind us. We whipped around, and saw a dirty man standing a few feet behind us. He had long, dark brown hair, a curly brown beard and familiar-looking brown eyes. And did I mention he was dirty?
"What's up?" The guy said. "You two look like you've seen a ghost!"
"...no offense, sir, but who the hell are you?" Tong asked, raising an eyebrow.
The guy's smile faltered. "You... you guys don't recognize me? Well... it HAS been 2 years!"
I stared. Those eyes looked so familiar... "Who are you?" I asked.
"Come on, Princess. Think outside the box." The guy encouraged.
I thought frantically. 2 years... 2 years... 2 years! That's it!
"Ce?" I whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear me.
The familiar smile spread across my big brother's face. "Hey, sis," he said, grinning. "I missed ya."
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Another one down, a zillion more to go:) Anyway, please review and let me know what you think! Be cruel and peace out!