Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors… (Sigh…)
Found Out Of Water
Chapter 6:
Da sat in the gardens with Xiao and Shang Xiang as the two talked to each other about anything that came to mind.
They had been at the Wu Palace for a few weeks and everyone had made them welcome admittedly in their own special ways, Da thought all the generals here were unique and most of them liked to talk. There were some of them, she found hardly spoke at all like Taishi Ci though he seemed to be comfortable with Ce and a man called Zhou Tai who was almost always with Sun Quan.
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu did look after them somewhat more than everyone else and made sure they were alright while Shang Xiang was there to talk to for Xiao and the three of them were becoming fast friends.
It was mid morning and Da noticed that since she had woken up servants and staff had been running and fussing about the place.
She looked around the garden seeing Zhou Yu and Sun Ce sparring under the shade…shirtless, it was quite strange actually since it was winter it was naturally cold and they were in the shade, not that them being shirtless was bad…just that they must have been working hard to not as cold as she was
"Sis!" cried Xiao as she waved her hand in front of her face
Da blinked as her face went blank before she looked at Xiao.
"What were you staring at?" she asked as she looked around before spotting the two "Oh….are they good?"
Shang Xiang nodded "Yeah, no one's beaten Brother, him and Taishi Ci draw all the time and Yu's Wu's strategist so he has to make sure battles go our rather than fighting himself"
The two nodded understanding.
They watched the two spar seeing Ce land a hard hit to Yu's chest making him stumble and land backwards. Xiao sat up as she put her hands on her hips definitely not happy. "That's mean!"
"Yu's used to it by now" cried Shang Xiang
"That's even meaner!" argued Xiao
The two looked at her confused as Ce helped Yu up.
"He should help him up!" cried Xiao not impressed by how the two were acting and when they were supposed to be as good as brothers
"It was just a fight…" said Shang Xiang confused
Xiao sat back down as Da watched the two put their shirts back on, without a doubt Yu looked the most tired as he flexed his muscles but from what she had seen he was impressive but then again how would she know? It all looked the same to her…
A bunch of what Da thought were well-dressed servants scurried up to Sun Ce holding pieces of cloth with different designs on them. They had been doing that a lot lately but mostly to Lord Sun Jian but she hadn't seen him today…
She looked down at her necklace, it was glowing more strongly now, more so than it had ever been. She looked at it in wonderment not noticing as the two approached them.
"If you two are friends then why are you fighting each other?…even if it is only pretend" asked Xiao with a childish innocence
The three looked slightly confused by her question before Ce shrugged it off as he hit Yu roughly on the shoulder.
"He needs the practice" he joked though Xiao still didn't seem to understand why he hurt Yu
"What do you two plan on doing all day?" asked Shang Xiang for the sake of it
"Getting out of here for starters, why are they asking me for all the design…stuff…?" he trailed off
"Because Father didn't want them hassling him anymore so he went for a horse ride early this morning to the mountains with Gai" explained Shang Xiang "I did say you wouldn't be able to handle it but the two of them just laughed it off before they rode off"
Ce said nothing for the moment before hitting Yu lightly on his elbow.
"Wanna go riding?" he suggested
"Leaving it to Quan?" replied Yu unsurely
Ce shrugged "He's got Meng and Tai not to mention Xun, they'll be fine on their own…for a while at least…"
"Aren't you going to invite us?" came in Shang Xiang wanting to go herself, her father was still protective of her in his own way and that included going out of the palace by herself
"If you want" replied Ce coolly
"Do you two know how to ride?" asked Yu with his usual gentle voice as he looked at the two
Da looked at Xiao waiting for her to answer for the two of them; instead she looked deeply confused at something.
It wasn't that in their whole time they hadn't seen a horse, Xiao just couldn't put the word to the picture.
"What's a horse?" she asked absent minded
There was silence for a moment as they simply looked at her blankly before Shang Xiang broke the silence by laughing.
"Do you have a fever?" asked Shang Xiang as she placed a hand on her forehead
Xiao looked at Da confused who nodded slightly, for the sake of it.
"Yeah…" she said slowly
"Are you well enough to go out?" asked Yu as he kneeled by her concerned and Shang Xiang took her hand back
Xiao looked at him blankly as she nodded before chirping up again. "I'm fine! Let's go!"
"Not when you smell like that!" cried Shang Xiang as she turned her head away from Yu's sweat
"After I have taken a bath then" cried Yu as he stood up "I must take my leave then"
"Don't take too long!" chirped Xiao as he smiled at her
They stared at each other for a few moments before Yu looked away slightly hearing Ce stifle a laugh.
"…excuse me" he said quietly before leaving
"Don't worry Brother, everyone's used to you smelling like an ape!" cried Shang Xiang
"Ha, funny" he replied sarcastically "It doesn't matter that much"
Though when he stayed to the spot, Da really thought he wasn't going to have a bath after such a workout. She raised her head with bunched eyebrows as she looked at them slightly shocked.
Ce rubbed the back of his head sheepishly getting the idea of that look.
"I'll meet you by the stables" he said quickly before sprinting away to his chambers
Shang Xiang shook her head slightly before looking at the two.
"Do you two want to go and put on shoes?" she asked
"Do we have to?" asked Xiao as she pulled out the grass around her
Da looked at her as Shang Xiang bunched her eyebrows together.
"Uh…yes…?" she replied
Xiao sighed in reluctance as she took Da's hand and stood up.
"Okay…" she replied childishly as the two started to walk back to their rooms
Shang Xiang watched for a second as she shook her head slightly, however much she liked them the word she would use to describe them is "Strange…"
Da held her necklace as they walked out of the gardens.
'Why has Lord Sun Jian gone away?' she asked
Xiao shrugged "I don't know, I'll ask Shang Xiang"
A few minutes later they were in their Xiao's room putting on shoes.
"I hate them!" cried Xiao as she pulled them on
Da sympathised with her as she played with her necklace, they just simply weren't used to it.
"Can I stay here?" she asked with a careful
Xiao raised her and looked at her "Why?"
Da looked down solemnly "Because, I don't exactly contribute anything-"
Xiao shook her head stopping her, "Nope! I'm not having that! You're coming! You still have me to talk to! And talking isn't the only way of communicating…"
Da looked at her incredulously considering how much she knew Xiao loved to talk.
Xiao waved her off "Alright, I know! I'll think of one, I'm sure I will! Now come on let's go find Shang Xiang"
She took Da's hand as Shang Xiang popped into the doorway.
"You ready?" she asked
The two nodded as Xiao helped Da up off of the floor.
Da straightened out the creases in her dress as Xiao looked to Shang Xiang.
"Where's Lord Sun Jian gone?" she asked for Da
"He took a break with Gai from all the banquet planning and they went horse riding" explained Shang Xiang
"Banquet?" asked Xiao excited at the prospect
She nodded "Yep, Mother's coming back today, and the banquets tomorrow night in celebration of her return"
"Oh, that's nice of him, isn't it?" cried Xiao
Shang Xiang nodded slightly "I suppose so; Father always does it…what were you saying anyway?"
"We were just talking" replied Xiao lightly
A crease appeared on Shang Xiang's eyebrows "If you don't mind me asking, how?"
"Well…" started Xiao as Da looked at concerned she would tell Shang Xiang after only knowing her a few weeks "Ah…we're just so close, you know?"
Shang Xiang nodded understanding "Yeah, sometimes I think Brother and Zhou Yu share a mind but they are just as good as brothers so I guess it makes sense"
Xiao nodded in agreement "So, can we go?"
"Yu might take awhile, he likes to look his best, and he's more popular with the female courtiers that way" she said joking at the last part
Xiao nodded taking it seriously "Oh…thinking about it now…he must be very popular…those ladies must be very independent…and intelligent and really proper like, I guess those two have a lot of admirers"
Shang Xiang looked at the two of them confused seeing their suddenly saddened faces.
"Yeah, but, they don't pay attention to any of them, those two aren't really the sort to like THAT type" she cried
"What type do they like?" asked Xiao curious and Da had to admit so was she
"Well…" tried Shang Xiang though this wasn't an area she knew anything about "I guess going on what they are like…that…well…-"
"We're waiting" interrupted Xiao as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently
Shang Xiang scratched her head thinking "Yu would…she'd have to be…" she started before finally thinking of something to say "Yeah, that's it, she'd have to balance him out, I guess that's for both of them really…and they'd have to be interesting, and not to into themselves. I don't think they'd like them too independent, they'd have to need them, that's a definite for Brother, he'd want someone that he could be protective of that would inflate his ego just so he could feel manly…I guess that doesn't really make sense, huh?"
Xiao shook her head "No, but Mamma and Papa are like that, they're polar opposites but they couldn't live without each other. It's so romantic… Papa's really intelligent and he always reads Mamma a story every night…I'd love to have something like that…"
Da nodded in agreement with a contented smile but couldn't help but missing her mother and father even more now at their mention.
"I feel a little homesick…" cried Xiao as she plopped herself down on the floor as Da nodded in agreement
"What happened to make you leave?" asked Shang Xiang concerned
"…We just had to…its real complicated…we can't tell anyone" replied Xiao
Shang Xiang nodded for the sake of it… "That's alright, we should go wait for them by the stables"
The two nodded in agreement before following Shang Xiang down to the stables.
As they entered the stables Da felt a little scared of the size of the creatures standing there as Shang Xiang immediately went up to her own horse.
It was a chestnut coloured horse that suited Shang Xiang's size.
Da looked around for a small horse which she knew neither her nor Xiao would be able to ride, she found white horse right at the end, she sighed at its beauty as she dared to reach out and pat it.
It gave a slight nay scaring her slightly before she managed a soft stroke before immediately withdrawing her hand.
"I want this one!" she heard Xiao say
She looked over seeing Shang Xiang holding the reins of her horse as it waited by her obediently.
It was a dark brown horse around the same size as Da's.
"She's so pretty!" cried Xiao
"She'll be easy to ride too" added Shang Xiang before looking over to Da "Is that the one you've picked?"
Da nodded as she looked back to the horse.
"What do you do with it then?" asked Xiao
"I'll show you the basics while they're not here" cried Shang Xiang as she started to show them how to get onto a horse
A little while later Ce and Yu came to stables seeing Xiao and Da on their horses already.
Shang Xiang saw the looks of hidden disappointment on their faces as they had discussed on their way down there how the two should ride with them because they didn't know how to, at least they thought they wouldn't know how to.
"Aren't you two going to get your horses? I want to go!" cried Shang Xiang impatiently as her horse seemingly nayed in agreement
The two of them got out their horses, Yu's was a white colour the exact same tone as Da's but his horse was bigger and looked a lot more stronger, while Ce was a jet black and was of a massive size not that Da and Xiao noticed them, they were too busy with their own horses.
"Go slow okay?" cried Xiao more for Da's sake than her own
"I'll stay with you" promised Yu as Xiao nodded with a smile
"We're not going to separate anyway" cried Shang Xiang as if it was a matter of fact
Ce kept an eye on Da as she struggled to guide the horse out of the stables.
They started on a slow ride out of the palace luckily without anyone seeing for they wouldn't have been allowed much further than the gate.
Eventually they stopped outside a forest on the field that was lightly covered in frost beside it and left the horses by a tree of the forest.
They settled down a few yards away,
"It's really nice here" commented Xiao as she looked around
"Yeah, everyone often comes here in the summer to spar" informed Shang Xiang
Xiao's face fell "Again with the fighting, I don't see why when there are plenty of other things to do, nicer things you can do with your friends"
"They just have a rivalry, everybody does, but they never let me fight" explained Shang Xiang
Ce shook his head "Because you can't take it every time you lose, Quan's told everyone not go near when you're like that"
"That's because Quan's nothing but a big cheater" she argued
"You shouldn't be like that with your own brother...we're not like that..." cried Xiao
"Quan just thinks he's better because he's older, who's the older one out of you two?" asked Shang Xiang
"Sis by six months" chirped Xiao
Da knew she required an explanation as she knew it wouldn't be possible to have actual human siblings that were six months apart.
Shang Xiang nodded in realisation "Aren't you two blood related?"
"No, we are..." cried Xiao not understanding
"Oh..." cried Shang Xiang simply "I don't get it..."
Xiao shrugged "I don't know, when Mamma laid her-"
Da's eyes immediately widened as she put a hand over Xiao's mouth to stop her from finishing the sentence.
Xiao looked at her deeply confused as Da could do nothing but shake her head, which as always would be enough for Xiao to stop until she could ask Da about it later.
There was silence for a few seconds as no one knew what to say, Xiao looked seemingly unaffected by the sudden change in the atmosphere as she looked around always finding something new to catch her interest, while Da looked as if she wanted to say something to drag everyone's attentions away from their probably growing suspicions which prompted Ce to say...
"Anyway...how long do you want to stay here for?" he asked changing the subject
Xiao however wasn't listening as butterfly came overhead, she gasped at the sight.
"Mister Flying Thing!" she cried happily before scampering up after it
Da watched her making sure she was okay.
"How is that possible?" asked Shang Xiang confused but wanting to know
"How are we supposed to know?" replied Ce
Da looked between them nervously.
"She has such a refreshing attitude" commented Yu as he watched her trying to reach for the butterfly
Da shifted uncomfortably at the look on his face, it gave her the impression he felt something for her sister, which wasn't a bad thing but just that the first thing she felt was that she could lose Xiao, but she knew a split second later she was just over reacting.
A few minutes later Xiao returned back to group after failing to catch the butterfly.
"It got away again..." she said sadly, she looked at Da sheepishly "Sis, can you help me find my shoes please?"
Da smiled as she nodded before Xiao helped her up and the two went off into the grass.
"We should probably get back before Mother does" noted Shang Xiang as she leaned on her hands feeling the cold in between her fingers
"I have some studying to catch up on" cried Yu
"No, you don't!" came Xiao's voice "You have to learn to have fun!"
They looked at her as she smiled and waved before getting back to finding her shoes leaving a smile on Yu's face as he was becoming accustomed to.
Ce looked at Da as she searched for Xiao's shoes seeing her hold her arms as she shivered lightly.
Ce got up as the two looked at him.
"Where are you going?" asked Shang Xiang
"Going to find some shoes" he replied simply
He quickly found on a little way by Da, he held it over her shoulder making her smile.
She took it off of him and turned round to smile her thanks before she skipped over to Xiao.
"Got it!" chirped Xiao as she picked up the other
"Xiao, here!" she cried happily as she held her necklace
Xiao turned and smiled "Thanks Sis!"
"Do you two want to go back?" Ce asked
Da looked at Xiao who was tapping her chin with her finger as she thought about it, she didn't want Yu to studying anymore than usual but it was quite cold.
"Hmm, can't we just go somewhere warmer?" she asked
Ce nodded "Yeah, I'll go tell the others"
"Come on, let's go get out horses!" chirped Xiao
The two scampered up to the five horses which were all tied together in one long row.
The first one was the same white colour as Da's.
She tilted her head to the side as she looked at it before holding her necklace.
"Was it this big before?" she asked
Xiao shrugged "I don't know, maybe they grow really fast"
Da nodded not knowing any better before she looked at her sister "Help me up?"
Xiao nodded as between the two of them managed to get her on the bigger horse.
Da looked down confused "Are you sure!?"
As soon as she finished the sentence, she didn't know what she had done or that the horse suddenly gained a mind of its own when it sprang into a gallop.
Da gave a silent scream as the horse galloped and she clung onto the reins desperately.
"Sis!!!" cried Xiao concerned
"What happened?!" cried Shang Xiang as the other three quickly approached
"It just took off! What do we do?!" asked Xiao with the utmost worry
Ce immediately got on his horse and started chasing after her with his own horse.
"Oh..." Xiao squirmed fearfully before trying to get onto the nearest horse which happened to be Shang Xiang's but was too big to get on and she was too worried and scared for her sister that she completely missed her step and fell backwards as tears fell down her cheeks
Yu kneeled down beside her as he put an arm around her consolingly.
"He'll get her back safely" he assured
Xiao shook her head panicked "But I don't trust him with my sis!"
The next part of this chapter will be up in a couple of weeks but I didn't want to make it too long, so...please, please, please REVIEW!
I won't put up the next chapter unless I get at least ONE REVIEW! PLEASE!