Da tripped on her dress, letting it fall to far down, again. Face first on the ground, she pounded her small fist against it. It hardly made a sound in the silent hall. Setting her jaw, she pushed herself up and into a sitting position. She had put on the cloth shoes, foregoing heels, and she couldn't believe how cold they were to the touch. She stopped herself there; she would not think about the bad.

She quickly got back onto her feet, and picked up her dress. Refusing to fall on it again, she pulled it to one side and tied it into a knot. She would have blushed at the indecency, but she didn't have time. She started down the hall again, saying a pray in hopes of not running into Zhuo. She decided to walk up some stairs when a horrible scream was heard from the upper level. Heart rushing again, she tightened her grip on the railing and quietly made her way up. Stopping before the last turn, she peaked around. What she saw brought tears to her eyes.

Chan was on her knees, in fetal position, before the towering Zhuo. His was still a mix of his monstrous form and his human original. His amber eyes looked larger and rounder, and glowed even though there was no light. His beard seemed bigger, wilder. His nails were long, and talon like. Any skin Da could see looked liked the dry earth of the desert. It was cracked puzzle like pieced still held together. Da, at his ruthless snarl, took a quiet step back.

Chan gave another, louder scream, falling closer to the floor as if wanting to fall into it. Zhuo fisted his hands. "We shall discuss the missing Qiao later Diao Chan. Right now, tell me where the oldest one is." Chan did not respond as he loosened his hand to allow her to talk. She lay on the floor, giving ragged gasp of air. When she did nothing else, Zhuo kicked her in her side. Chan flipped over with no sound.

Blood fell from Chan's nose and mouth, and the distant glass look in her blue eyes had Da giving a gasp mixed with horror and terror. Zhuo looked from Chan to Da, and gave a grin that had Da's fear spiking. Shutting her mouth, she turned and ran down the rest of the stairs and down the hall she had come from. She could hear Zhuo following, and when she looked back, she gasped. He was quicker in his animalistic form. Quick enough now to make Da worry.

Instead of crying over it, she ran closer to the wall. Apologizing to Chan, she grabbed a vase, spun around with the cloth shoes, and chucked it at him. Continuing the spin, she ran. She took no time to see Zhuo block it with his arm and growl at her. His arm was now embedded with shards of a rather expensive vase, and he clenched his fist. He would enjoy teaching the fragile Qiao her place when he finally got his hands around her beautiful neck.

Da ran with no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she was ahead of her death, and she needed to loose the monster quick. With a glance back, noticing his leer, she continued the way she had come.

Xiao sat in bed, glaring at the healer who was stuffing the must disgusting, sticky broth down her throat that was a horrid vomit green. As the healer held more out to her, Xiao gagged. But, because she opened her mouth, the healer shoved the food in and Xiao had to try and swallow the stuff. It stuck to the roof of her mouth and the back of her throat. Coughing, between the choking and the cold, she watched the healer reach for water.

She drank it down, though she swore there was some of the sticky food still in her throat. Handing the healer back the glass, she glared. "It's disgusting. You're going to go through all your water just so that I can finish this one bowl."

"A price Lord Jian is going to have to pay for your health then." The healer was unfazed.

"Can't you water it down? Make it less sticky, dry, and all around disgusting?" Xiao flinched away from the next spoonful.

"Jin, a soldier is in need of you. The man with frostbite has woken up," a solder said, peaking into the tent. Xiao could only sigh in relief, which earned her a glare from Jin.

"Fine. Do not get comfortable Lady Xiao. I shall return, and you must eat. Your stomach can not yet fully eat solid food."

"I'd take that over this…food." Jin said nothing back, and left the tent without another word. Xiao folded her arms over her chest and stuck her tongue out. She had given up on crying, having gotten it all out. What was done was done. The only thing she could do now was make sure she got Da out of the castle. Biting the inside of her cheek, she took a peak at the bowl left behind to make sure the goo wasn't moving. Grabbing the towel Jin had used to wipe her mouth when she had spit up the water she covered the bowl and got out of the bed.

It was extremely cold when she got out from underneath the blankets, but she wanted to see the outside. She wasn't planning to go outside, she wasn't that stupid. Shuffling over to the flap, she glanced outside. Her only visitor since Yu and her kiss had been Jin. Xiao assumed they were planning how to rescue Da. A soldier stood outside the flap, and he glanced at her when she peaked out. Ignoring him, she looked at the rest of the camp.

Snow covered the ground still. Some soldiers marched through it, but most were sitting around talking. A few guarded the tents, and a couple soldiers were standing at the edge of camp. Their red armor was magnificent, and Xiao could imagine the soldiers' bravely charging into battle for their land and their lord. She let the flap fall only after noticing the sun was getting close to setting. Biting her lip, she looked worriedly around for her heroes.

Da ran through the hall, ignoring the sun glaring in through a window. She had surprised herself by surviving as long as she had. She had only two close encounters, not counting when he had spotted her. The first had been when she had tripped down some stairs. He was there, reaching for her. He grabbed her forearm and had lifted her up. Da, using it to her advantage, had kicked his nose in. He had dropped her and she had half ran half crawled down the hall and through a door.

The second time, he had her cornered. His nose had looked a little funny, but Da didn't even consider telling him. He raised a hand and back handed her. Da had fallen to the floor, and he stood above her. Like he had done to Chan. Da quickly sat herself up, ignoring the way the world faded in and out and evaded his kick. He had growled something, and Da tried to stay awake. He reached for her again, and she spotted the dagger in his belt. Dodging his hand, she used a dance move she had been taught years ago, twisted around and pulled out the dagger from its sheath. Loosing no momentum, she swiped at his face. Instead she hit his shoulder.

She ran now, still with the bloody dagger. She ached all over, and could only imagine what a mess she looked. She couldn't get enough air, and her legs were more numb than sore. The side of her face ached, and there was dried blood on in her hair and on her cheek. Not to mention she was positive there were bruises everywhere.

Da continued to run down the hall, until her legs just gave out beneath her. The dagger slid down the stairs that she realized led to the large front doors. If she had the energy, or time, she would have laughed at the irony. Instead, she pushed herself up on shaky arms and dragged herself behind a statue to hide. Holding her legs to her chest, she closed her eyes and prayed.

Xiao sneaked out of her tent, going through the back. She was wrapped up in one of the smaller blankets, but still sucked air in between clenched teeth when the cold air hit her full force. Earlier, she had heard Lord Jian speaking with both Yu and Ce. He had sounded upset over it, but he had said there was nothing they could do this night. Ce had punched a tree. A couple of times.

She presumed that they thought she was asleep, since they had been speaking so close to the back of her tent. She had only needed to get up and press her ear to the tent to make out what they had been saying. Xiao, at Lord Jian's words, had nearly cried out. Biting her thumb, she had crawled back into her bed incase somebody had come in.

It had taken her the span of dinner (not the disgusting stuff again) to figure out why her heroes weren't being heroes. She could not blame them, not being able to charge a magical castle the same day she appeared to tell them about it. It took time to plan out good attacks. She was learning this the hardest way she could think of. But, that did not mean she planned on staying.

She was not going to allow her sister anymore time alone with that horrible man. She was going to break another promise, she knew, but that didn't slow her down as she had slipped on some slippers. She had told a soldier her feet were still cold, and they had supplied them for her. Then, she picked out the warmest blanket that allowed movement, and left the tent.

The sun was lighting the sky with colors of red and purples with tints of gold, which was reflected between the dead branches of the trees and the white snow. It was beautiful, and romantic, if Xiao had stopped to look. She continued around the back of the tents towards the way she had come in, only knowing which way because she had known which way the moon was setting at the time.

She made it past the watch soldiers, who weren't paying too much attention. It hadn't gotten around camp yet that there was a magical castle with an unbeatable warrior and a fat man beating a noble's daughter not even a day's walk away. Pulling the blanket closer around her, she took one last look back, almost wishing to see Yu walking across the camp. Instead, she collided with something big, hard, and unmoving. Thankfully, that something steadied her as she had stumbled back. Looking up, she saw Ce staring down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Ce asked, releasing her shoulders. Xiao took her time to notice he was in armor and held his tonfas.

"Shouldn't you?" she asked instead of answering.

"… I was going to go train since I really can't sleep. Especially since Pops made me take a nap after lunch," Ce said. It was perfectly true. This was why he brought his tonfas instead of his usual spear like weapon. It took a little more effort to kill somebody with tonfas if that wasn't what the blow was intended to do (unless you hit the head, and sometimes chest region). Unlike bladed weapons that easily killed or amputated if the user wasn't properly trained.

"You were going to leave Da?" Xiao asked, glaring now.

"… I planned on waiting until more people were asleep," Ce admitted.

"There's a big strong warrior, and a bad fat man-"

"And if they stand in my way then they shall fall. And if they have harmed Da, they will pay for each bruise tenfold."

"… Okay. You can save her." Xiao nodded her head with a straight face. She had no doubt that Ce would either come back with Da, or not at all. She hoped for the former. She jumped and spun, to the best of her ability, when an alarm went off. Ce grabbed her shoulders and pulled her behind a tree.

"It seems they have noticed that you are missing. Soon, they'll add that I'm missing, and come to one conclusion."

"What do we do?"

"You go back there and calm them all down somehow. The castle is straight that way?" Ce asked, pointing the way she had been walking before he had blocked her path. Yu would have hung him by his own intestine, sworn brother or not, if he had let Xiao leave the camp.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I went straight." Ce nodded, already knowing where the castle was, they had marked it on a map from what the scouts had said. But, if he hadn't, Xiao would have had a fit about him not knowing anything. "Maybe I should-"

"Go back to camp and make sure I get a far enough head start so I can save Da," Ce finished for her. Xiao glanced up at him, sighed, and nodded her head. At least, she thought, now she was keeping her promise to Da.

"Remember, she has a spell on her and can't leave the grounds."

"I'll get her out Xiao. I promise. Now, go and calm down the camp. Please," Ce said between clenched teeth. She nodded and walked around the tree and back to camp. Ce watched her go before running a hand through his bangs. He wished he had better weapons than his tonfas, but at least they were easy to move with. Rolling his shoulders, and spinning his tonfas for effect, he let out a long breath and started towards the castle. He had to get his (soon to be) wife back.

We had a storm over the last three days, and I had nothing better to do then write this chapter and edit edit edit since internet died and I had no homework. I'm thinking the next chapter will be the end, unless I do an epilogue thingy. So yeah, hate Dong Zhuo and feel sorry for Da. I figured it seemed like Xiao was going through so much emotional crap, Da could go through some physical crap. And it'll piss off Ce and lead to a lot of babying, so its all good right? (I'm guessing you all know by now I don't have the heart to kill off Da).