Chapter 6: You're not here (Akira Yamaoka)
It had suddenly become a lot cooler then Masamune remembered. The dragon rubbed his eye and slowly opened it.
"What the?" He wondered out loud. Upon opening his eye, Masamune wasn't greeted by the ceiling of his chamber. Instead a bright blue cloud-less sky greeted him. Masamune sat up quickly as another cool wind blew past. He was in the middle of a field, no where near the castle. Masamune looked around completely confused, before noticing he was shirt-less. "What the heck is going on?" Masamune cursed.
"Oh, you're awake."Masamune glanced over to his right. Lu Xun smiled softly at him. Masamune stared back, his eyes trailing down the Chinese warrior's bare chest. "I didn't think that training match would have worn you out that much. You've been out for sometime." Lu Xun informed, stepping closer. Masamune shook his head a little before looking into Lu Xun's honey coloured eyes. Training match? The dragon watched as Lu Xun sat down next to him.
"Your hat..." Masamune trailed off, pointing to the spot where the hat should have been. Lu Xun placed a hand to his head, one eye-brow raised. The Wu officer smiled again and nodded his head.
"Yeah I know. I gave it to Zhen after the match. I know she'll look after it." he replied. Masamune looked round.
"Where is Tiger?" he inquried. It wasn't as if he was worried for her. Heck, Tiger could have become an officer if she hadn't chosen the life of a bodyguard. Still it was slightly strange without her looming over his shoulder at every chance she got. That's what she's trained to do. Where the hell is she? Masamune wondered, looking round again. Lu Xun pulled his knees up to his chest and locked his arms around them.
"She's with Zhen. I think she's teaching her some new moves or something." Lu Xun paused and looked over to Masamune. "I think they've sworn an oath of sisterhood." he added. Masamune sighed a little before returning Lu Xun's gaze. "Masamune? Is everything all right?" Lu Xun asked. Masamun shook his head, a little enraged at the other male. All right? The dragon had no idea what the hell was going on!
"No! For one, why am I even in this field with you. Two; Why the heck am I shirt-less? Three; where the bloody hell are we?" Masamune exploded, causing Lu Xun to back up a little. Masamune glared at the Wu warrior, hoping it would at least make the male run for it. Instead, and much to Masamune's surprise, Lu Xun smiled again before staring up at the sky. Silence past between the two.
"We came out here to train. Wide open space, no-one to bother us. I'm not too sure where this place is, all I know is that we're some distance away from our base camp." Lu Xun turned to look at Masamune. The dragon's eye became soft as if Masamune felt bad for yelling at Lu Xun. "And as for why you're shirt-less...It was getting hot." Once again Lu Xun paused as he looked up into the sky. "The sun has been shining brightly these last couple of days."
"None of this...makes any sense." Masamune whispered, shaking his head. Lu Xun chewed his lip, worry in his eyes. Masamune cradled his head in his hands, tugging at strands of his own chocolate brown hair. I remember...remember going to bed. How did I end up here? And with him?
"Masamune?" The dragon lifted his head and glanced over to Lu Xun. "What's wrong? Don't you remember anything?" Lu Xun questioned. Masamune slowly shook his head. Lu Xun placed a finger to his bottom lip. "That last attack wasn't that powerful. That couldn't have been the reason." he pondered before clicking his fingers. "I got it! I know how to regain your memory!" He grinned. Masamune rolled his eye.
"Whatcha going to do? Some type of Voo..."Masamune squeaked in surprise as Lu Xun crushed his lips against his own. His eye widened before it slowly closed. He couldn't control his hand as it rested on Lu Xun's shoulder. Slowly his hand rose to rest on the other male's neck before his fingers began to tangle themselves in Lu Xun's hair. Someway off Masamune thought he could hear giggling.
Suddenly alarm bells started to ring in the back of his mind as Lu Xun's fingers trailed down his chest. Whoa! Whoa! WHOA! What the hell is going on? Masamune thought but he was unable to break away. The fingers continued on with the desent before reaching the hem of his trousers. Masamune...
...shot up, yelling out loudly in japanese. His body was coated in a thin film of sweat as he tried to regain his breath. The door opening quickly as Tiger barreled into the room. Her dagger was drawn while she looked round the room. "My lord? Is everything all right?" she quickly glanced over to him. Masamune nodded his head.
"I'm fine Tiger. Just...Just a bad dream." he spluttered. Tiger placed her dagger out of sight again and bowed formly. Masamune watched as Tiger left the room before cursing to himself. The dragon swung round, placing his back against the wall of room. He wiped his forehead before pulling his legs closer to his chest. His breath had finally calm down. "I don't know which is worst." Masamune muttered and he looked out at the star-filled sky. "That dream or me being so turned on by it."
--
Zhen Shao's eyes flew open, her bow loaded and ready. As she looked round the chamber of Fan Castle, she found no-one else but her lord. Lu Xun had yelled out in his sleep and was now sitting up, totally out of breath. In the pale moon light Zhen could tell he was sweating. "My lord?" Zhen called. It seemed Lu Xun had not heard her as he made no movement. Zhen became very alarm when Lu Xun did nothing. The little girl scrambled over to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Wha!" Lu Xun jumped back in surprise before shaking his head. "I'm...I'm sorry Zhen." he whispered. Zhen Shao tighened her grip on Lu Xun's shoulder a litte. The Wu warrior could sense that Zhen was still worried. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream." he began taking hold of her hand. Zhen remained where she was, her bow left forgotten at her side.
"Are you sure My..."
"Zhen! Lu Xun!" The pounding on the chamber door cut Zhen off. "Are you two alright?" Guna Ping's voice filled with fear when he got no answer from either warrior. Zhen smiled softly at Lu Xun. She wordless got to her feet and padded across the dark room. Lu Xun heard the door open and shut quietly. Zhen was outside, talking to Guan Ping. The wu officer sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"What was with that dream? I've never had a dream like that. Never" Lu Xun mumbled, shaking his head again. He turned to look out the window. It wasn't too late nor was it too early. "I need some air. Some time to think." Lu Xun agreed with himself as he flung the bed sheets from his body. Quickly getting changed, the wu officer grabbed his weapons and slipped out through the window.
--
"Is everything all right in there?"Guan Ping began. "I heard someone scream."
Zhen Shao nodded her head. "Everything's fine Lord Guan Ping. My lord just had a bad dream." She smiled at Guan Ping. The former shu officer frowned as if he didn't believe Zhen's words. "Would I lie to you?" Zhen inquried, one hand on her hip. Guan Ping's frown faded to a smile and he shook his head. A faint blush was on his cheeks, guilt shown for questioning Lu Xun's most loyal bodyguard.
"No, you wouldn't lie Zhen. I feel foolish enough to doubt you. I'm sorry." Guan Ping bowed. "If everything is okay, I'm heading back to bed." Turning on his heel, Guan Ping waved quickly before disappearing down the dark corridor. Zhen glanced back at the chamber door.
No, nothing is okay. Something has happened to My Lord...and I'm very worried for him. she thought sadly.
--
Masamune had been unable to return to sleep. Instead he found himself staring at the ceiling of his chamber. Now the dragon had regretted ever waking up from that dream, despite the fact it scared the living day-lights out of him. He turning his head slightly to stare at the far wall, running his hand over the side of his bed. "It suddenly feels...so empty." Masamune whispered to himself. Did his bed really feel so empty? And why was he thinking of love now of all times.
Masamune wasn't stupid. He had never been in love but he had heard Noriko and her bodyguard talking about it. Noriko had claimed she was in love and it hurt her that he never looked at her. It didn't take a genius to work out who she ment. Even Masamune's generals urged the dragon to marry even if he married Noriko. Masamune had flat out refused. She was a solider, that was the life she chose. However the ever looming idea of an heir to carry on the duties of the clan...that was the only reason he wanted to marry.
Masamune rolled onto his side, still staring at the wall. Masamune's head was beginning to hurt from all the thinking. His chest felt tight and a feeling of dread and stress washed over him. "Now what?" Masamune complained, covering his face with his pillow. Suddenly the warrior remember something he was told when he was only a boy. His grandmother had once explained about soul-mates.
"If you find someone special, you will fall in love. However...if you start to feel just like they do...hurt, sad, confused, happy...then they have become your soul-mate. This means young Date that you were destinyed to be with that person."
Masamune's good eye peeked out from the pillow. "Could this mean...that Lu Xun...is my soul-mate?"
--
The sky was tainted pink by the coming sun-rise. Lu Xun stared at the sky, marveling at the beauty of it all. Deep down though, the young warrior was filled with dread which led on to stress. Someone my age shouldn't be stressed. Lu Xun mused. There was only one reason as to why he was filled with dread. Lu Xun felt as if he was betraying Lord Sun Ce and his daughter, not to mention the whole of the Wu kingdom.
"We were ment to be married. We were meant to secure the future of the kingdom. We were ment...to..." Lu Xun wiped a few stray tears away from his eyes. "Do I still love her? I doubt it." Lu Xun mumbled. Some way away, Zhen hid as best she could. The little bodyguard was worried, she had to know what was plaguing her lord's mind. Crouching slightly lower behind a stack of wood, Zhen peeked again.
"My lord? What ever has gotten into you?" she whispered. Lu Xun stared at his hand before he clentched it into a fist.
"Lord Ce's daughter is lost to the sands of time. I will never forget her or my kingdom but times have changed." Lu Xun looked back at the sky. "Do I love her? No, I know now that I do not."
Lu Xun was still in love. The person was a one-eyed dragon.
Thank you to runickenaz, Hydromaster9910 & AZNchaos07 for your reviews!