Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors…(sigh)

Found Out Of Water

Chapter 5

Da sat with a serene smile on her face as Xiao talked animatedly to the two of them.

They were sat in an outside parlour waiting for the generals to introduce them. The only one Da was somewhat nervous meeting was the lord, it was important for him to like them or they could be kicked out. From what she had heard about him, he sounded so intimidating. He was obviously a great man and had accomplished many feats as had Sun Ce, but that didn't surprise her much from the way he looked nothing about him seemed normal but he exuberated cheerfulness and was nice to her when she wanted to die of embarrassment.

She wasn't particularly nervous about meeting anyone else, not when she couldn't say anything to them and Xiao could speak for both of them, she always did much to Da's relief.

Shang Xiang listened to Xiao with a friendly smile on her face, she found she liked them, they were the only girls around the palace her own age let alone find that she could be friends with them.

As Xiao was talking the door opened revealing Lord Sun Jian with Ce, Kuang and an extremely nervous Quan behind him.

Xiao's eyes immediately narrowed on his, remembering anyone who tried to hurt her sister.

Xiao and Shang Xiang hopped up with Xiao having a scowl on her face and Shang Xiang with a smile as she looked at her father.

"Aren't you at least going to apologize!?" she demanded harshly but was also wondering where Yu was

Quan lowered his head in shame "I…apologize…"

"Too bad! That sounded so fake!" retorted Xiao

Quan looked at his family for help but his brothers simply shook their heads with a smirk while his father watched an amused smile.

In the end Shang Xiang sighed "He is sorry, he's just a lousy shot"

Xiao looked at Shang Xiang as she pushed her lips to one side debating whether to believe her until she felt Da put her hand on hers. Xiao looked at her seeing her bright smile and relented as she sighed.

"Fine, whatever…" she muttered as she sat back down and Quan sighed in relief

There was a slight tension for a second before Jian made a good natured laugh.

"So, that's the one you hit" he cried before laughing again

Da slightly looked away a little embarrassed as Ce cleared his throat lightly.

"No, that's Xiao, this is Da" he introduced looking and feeling slightly apprehensive though he had no idea why he should have been affected by them meeting at all

Sun Jian looked at the now uneasy feeling girl looking a her hands as she fidgeted with them. He laughed good-naturedly looking at the two.

"Stand up Girl, I'm not a monster, you know!" he cried with a grin

The two stood up slowly as Da continued to look down.

"This is my father, Lord Sun Jian, Quan and Kuang and you know Brother" introduced Shang Xiang

The two bowed to him in respect as he forced Da's chin up surprising both of them.

"Excuse me?" cried Xiao with a high pitched voice as she removed his hand off of Da's chin

Jian immediately laughed "Pretty girls aren't they?"

Xiao couldn't help but giggle as everyone looked at her.

"You're funny, Old Man" she cried as she giggled

He grinned at her good-naturedly as he patted her on the head before looking to Shang Xiang.

"Shang will look after you for the rest of the day, I'm sure" he cried

Shang Xiang nodded with a smile at her father.

"I won't disappoint Father" she replied dutifully making him continue his grin

Xiao pouted as she looked around "Where's Zhou Yu?"

"He's working with Xun and Meng" replied Kuang

A crease appeared on Xiao's brow as she put her hands on her hips unimpressed.

"You work him to hard!" she cried childishly

"He doesn't mind" cried Quan

"You don't talk murderer!" cried Xiao silencing Quan immediately

Da resisted the urge to cringe at her sister's behaviour, they could throw them out and banish them from their kingdom if they really wanted to.

Da tugged on Xiao's hand subtly making her look at her as Da shook her head slightly.

Xiao sighed as she sat back down.

"You're right, I'm sorry for snapping at you Mister" cried Xiao childishly

Quan shook his head "I deserve it"

"That's right" Xiao said quietly so only Da could hear as she sat back down and nudged her slightly.

"Have fun!" cried Kuang as the three made their to the door

"Bye-bye!" cried Xiao chirpily as she waved

As soon as they left Xiao immediately returned to talking about anything that came to mind again as Da held her necklace making it emit a slight glow.

'Isn't there a Lady of Wu?' she asked her sister

Xiao stopped talking and thought about it,

"Isn't the big man got a wife?" she asked

"Wife? Oh, Mother's on holiday with Su and Yin. She said she needed a holiday, she'll be back soon though" cried Shang Xiang as the two nodded understanding

Da sat quietly as the two chatted with each other until loud arguing came from outside. Da tilted her head to the side as the voices became more clearer.

She got up and walked over to the open window seeing the two sparring men from yesterday, she turned back to the two seeing Shang Xiang now frozen slightly losing her composure.

The door flung open revealing the tattooed man followed by the other man pushing him into the room.

The two glared at each other as Shang Xiang now having regained her composure stood up with her hands on her hips.

"You two! Cut it out!" she cried "What kind of impression do you two want to make!?"

The tattooed man scoffed while the other bowed his apologies.

Shang Xiang shook her head at the two of them.

"I'm Ling Tong" cried the brown haired man diligently

The two looked at the tattooed man who was too busy sending back a glare at Tong to answer them, Shang Xiang sighed at them.

"That's Gan Ning" she said quietly

The two nodded slightly for the sake of it.

Shang Xiang walked up to the two who were about to start a physical fight before she pushed them out the room.

"We're busy!" she cried abruptly

The two protested against her until she slammed the door on them.

She turned round to see Xiao and Da's blank faces.

"What?" she asked not understanding

Da pointed to her cheeks as Xiao giggled.

"You look a like you're blushing" she cried

Shang Xiang immediately rubbed her cheeks as she went back to sit down.

"It's hot in here" she excused

"But it's so cold!" cried Xiao as she shivered

A little while later Yu came by with Lu Meng and Lu Xun and lastly a huge but friendly man named Huang Gai who was with a quiet man named Taishi Ci.

Da found she liked everyone here, there wasn't anyone who was unpleasant - maybe Tong and Ning, though Shang Xiang explained to them that the two of them were always that way, too competitive for their own good.

Shang Xiang stretched tiredly afterwards. "That was long!"

"They were all so fun!" cried Xiao nicely as the three stepped outside

The sun was setting on their first day and now Da was starting to feel hungry.

Da looked around the outside before seeing Sun Ce sitting under a tree with his eyes closed lazily as Zhou Yu stood in front of him with his arms crossed, she noticed how he opened his mouth albeit slightly lazy whenever he talked back.

A small smile flickered onto her face at the sight of the two of them, they looked in stark contrast to each other, Yu looked serious and always stood erect while Ce looked informal and since she had met him, which wasn't long, he had a easy going look on his face.

"Sis!" cried Xiao as she waved her hand in front of her face

Da looked at her hand surprised before looking at her expectantly.

"What were you staring at?" asked Xiao before she turned around and looked "Oh, let's go say hi…"

Xiao grabbed Da's hand as she started on a slight skip to the two.

"Huh?" mumbled Shang Xiang before following the two

"What are you doing?" asked Xiao more to Yu than Ce as she ran up to them

He faced her with a smile as he opened his mouth to speak.

Xiao's eyes narrowed on the two as the other two caught up.

"Are you still working?" she asked suspiciously

He gave her a soft smile making her face drop blankly as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Nah, dinner's ready" answered Ce for him as he stood up and gave a tired stretch

Xiao looked around for something as Da looked at her wondering if she was missing something.

"How do you know?" she asked

"The kitchen lets Brother eat whenever he wants to, he eats a lot" explained Shang Xiang with a smirk

Ce scoffed as he walked past her ruffling up her hair.

She fixed an unimpressed stare at him as she straightened out her hair as he stopped at Da.

She looked up to him with a polite face and a small smile as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Eat with us, if you're uncomfortable…uh, if you want to-" he cried

Da nodded trying to make it look not as eager as it felt.

She followed him inside making sure to sit next to Xiao, truthfully she didn't want the two of them being looked at by everyone in their kingdom as they ate until they could learn how to use a knife and fork.

As they sat down, there was little formality between them as everyone began eating.

Da looked at everyone use their cutlery biting her lip slightly before looking at Xiao who had given up on a knife and was just using a fork to eat her food.

She looked around apprehensively before trying to copy them with a lame attempt that was close to how a child would use a knife and fork.

After diner Shang Xiang showed them back to their rooms where a maid had drew them both baths.

Xiao took one look at it before scampering into her sister's room.

"Sis!" she called as she entered

She looked around the room as Da came out the bathroom.

"Did you get a bath too?" she asked

Da nodded as she held her necklace. 'I thought if one of us had one then the other would act as a lookout'

Xiao nodded in agreement.

'I'll go on lookout' decided Da as Xiao nodded

A few minutes later Da sat next to the bath as Xiao's sapphire blue tailfin hung over the edge of the bath.

"Today's been fun, though I'm a little tired" cried Xiao as Da nodded in agreement

Da held her necklace as it emitted a deep glow.

'Do you think Mamma and Papa are alright?' she asked worried

Xiao blew at the bubble bath in her hands as she nodded cheerless.

"Mamma will be and Papa will be trying to cheer her up though he'll be really worried" she cried

'The note we left didn't say much and I really want to see them…do you think we should go back?' asked Da concerned

Xiao looked at her abruptly "No! We can't! We have to find your voice!"

Da nodded as she looked down 'But-'

"No buts!" interrupted Xiao "We have to!"

'But if you ever…' Da started sadly though she didn't want to

"If I ever what?" asked Xiao suspiciously

'If you ever…found someone who loved you and you loved him…I…I'd go you know' explained Da sincerely

"I won't! I'd never leave you, you're the most important person to me…and if I had to choose between you and anyone else then I'd choose you! We're a two for one deal, remember?" cried Xiao

Da couldn't help but smile at her as Xiao absent minded blew out the bubble bath, her sister was a very special person to her too.

Da looked down at her necklace, her grandfather had said that the necklace, her voice and her true love would work together, so when the starfish on her necklace glowed brightly the closer her voice was and the more love their was, but Da didn't really understand about the love part. She didn't know if it meant the more love Da felt or the more love they felt for each other but she thought she'd figure it out eventually though right now it had better than faint glow.

The necklace was also an emblem for Atlantica, anyone who had one was a member of the royal family, her mother always had hers round her neck…

Later that night Da lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the bed was too big for one person.

She sighed as the door quickly opened making her look up sharply. It was too dark for her to see anything.

The small figure went under the covers and scurried to Da as she watched apprehensively before Xiao popped out next to her making her sigh in relief.

"I couldn't sleep" she whispered as she lay her head on Da's shoulder

Da nodded slightly as she lay back down.

The two soon drifted into an easy sleep filled with anxious dreams…

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Please review!

Not a lot is happening yet, but that will change in the next chapter (I hope…)