Chapter 15: Captive
The defiant look in Lu Xun's eyes sent shivers up and down Masamune's spine. Despite the fact his face was bruised and battered, Lu Xun's very spirit refused to break. The warrior had glanced quickly to Masamune, watching him and Sima Yi enter the meeting. Lu Xun knew he would have to lie about why he was there. Masamune was already in enough danger as it was. Speaking of danger, I hope Zhen got away to safety. Lu Xun mused and struggled briefly against the rope round his wrist. Lu Xun blew a strand of hair out of his eyes, wondering if Zhen had reclaimed his hat.
The throne room was silent for a short while which further fueled Masamune's restlessness. Orochi smirked coldly at Lu Xun who had been forced onto his knees in front of the Snake King. "So you are Lu Xun, hmmm?" Orochi inquried. Lu Xun said nothing and kept his head down. A snake General grabbed a tuff of his hair and yanked his head up.
"Answer Lord Orochi when he speaks to you!" The General snarled, tugging painfully on Lu Xun's hair. The former Wu warrior winced in pain but refused to cry out. Masamune quelled the urge to batter the living hell of the General.
"Yes I am!" Lu Xun replied. He sighed in relief when the General let go of his hair. Lu Xun returned his gaze back to the floor. He didn't trust himself to look at Masamune again. He only hoped the dragon would understand. Masamune, on the other hand, hopped onto his other foot and chewed his lip. He wanted to be anywhere but there. Seeing Lu Xun hurt was breaking his heart and Masamune wanted nothing more then to take him away from everything.
"I will grant you freedom if you swear you will serve me loyally." Orochi smiled. Masamune glanced at The Snake King. What the hell was going on? First Da Ji and Sima Yi planning their own revenge against the pair now Orochi wanted something. This was getting crazier by the minute and Masamune was not liking any of it. Lu Xun's head snapped up and he glared at Orochi with everything he had.
"I will not be free if I serve you. I would gladly die then be a lapdog to a snake!" Lu Xun yelled loudly. The General who had pulled at his hair returned to Lu Xun's side and swiftly kicked him in the stomach. Lu Xun hit the floor, groaning in pain and gasping for air. It was hard for Masamune to stop himself running over to Lu Xun. The General was about to add another blow when Orochi held up a hand. The General backed away.
"Then die you shall." Orochi snorted. He glanced over to two more generals and pointed to Lu Xun's form. "Take him to the prison." The snake ordered. Masamune bit back his tears as he watched the generals drag Lu Xun away.
--
"Masamune! Hey! Wait up!"
Masamune glanced over his shoulder briefly to see Keiji making his way towards him. "What Keiji? I've got things to do so better make it quick." Masamune snapped. The taller warrior frowned to himself. He knew the kid could be a little moody and quick to judge but Keiji had never ever seen him like this.
"You okay? You ain't been yourself lately." Kejij began. He was suddenly taken back by Masamune's loud growl. The smaller warrior threw his hands into the air and spun round so his back was facing Keiji.
"What is it with everyone asking if I'm okay? I've had it up to here with everyone asking me. Can't I have a least some privacy in this god-forsaken place?" Masamune glanced over his shoulder to look at a very taken back Keiji. "I'm fine!" The dragon yelled and stormed off back to his chamber. Keiji remained where he was, taken back by Masamune's fury.
--
Tiger jumped when the chamber door slammed open then closed. The dragon said nothing as he began to pace. Tiger looked at a figure hiding in the corner of the room then to her lord. The ninja didn't know where to begin but with the look on Masamune's face told her not to say a word.
"Sniff."
Masamune paused in his thoughts and turned to look at the figure in the corner of the room. Masamune was in the right frame of mind to un-sheath his sword and slay whoever it was, but Masamune knew that Tiger would have already done that. Which meant...
"My lord, I found Zhen." Tiger informed suddenly. The figure shuddered again before standing up. Sure enough little Zhen Shao stood before Masamune, shaking like a leaf and crying her eyes out. "I found her outside the castle my lord." Tiger added before Zhen erupted into another flood of tears, this time quiter then her previous flood. Tiger rushed to her sworn sister and wrapped an arm round her shoulders.
"Oh lord Masamune! It's terrible!" Zhen paused to wipe her tears away with a piece of red silk. "Lord Lu Xun's been captured and..." Masamune placed his hands on her shoulders to hold her steady.
"Slow down Zhen. Start from the beginning." He ordered. He noticed that Zhen had managed to carry two small bags of items. Resting ontop of the pile was Lu Xun's famous hat. Zhen took a shaky breath in and blew her nose. She hated crying. In her opinion it made her appear weak but being only 15 years of age, Zhen guessed she could get away with a few tears every now and then.
"After Lord Lu Xun received your letter from Tiger, he was out of his mind with worry. I only asked as what we should do when lord Lu Xun proclaimed that he would not sit by and let you rot in here. I couldn't protest or make him see sense so I could only join Lord Lu Xun and try to keep him safe. We were only outside the castle courtyard walls, trying to find a way in, when we were ambushed." Zhen wiped away a few stray tears. "I tried to protect him as best I could but there were too many of them. Lord Lu Xun ordered me to run away but at first I refused. In the end I had to and I ran so far away. I only returned when I knew it was safe to and found his hat." Zhen finished. Masamune frowned.
"His weapons?" he inquried. Zhen shrugged.
"I couldn't find them." she replied. Suddenly voices on the other side of the door caught the trio's attention. Zhen squeaked in fear and ducked behind Tiger who kept her eyes trained on the door. Masamune had moved quickly to the bags in the corner and shoved them under his bed. Taking Zhen's hand, Masamune wordless explained his plan. Zhen nodded her head and crawled under the bed. Tiger quickly straightened out the bed covers, making sure they draped over the sides and hid the bottom of the bed from view. The ninja then took her perch at the window sill.
The chamber door was pushed open rather forcefully as Da Ji made her grand enterance. "Masamune! I have a chore for you." The demon fox grinned. Masamune rolled his eye and turned to walk towards his desk. Sitting down on the wooden table, the dragon cast a second glanced towards the fox who smiled innocently.
"I thought I would be put to death within the week. Why do I have to do it?" Masamune hissed in question. He knew deep down that whatever chore had had to do was not going to be pretty. Not one bit. Da Ji pouted slightly. She turned fully to face Masamune, ignoring Tiger's worried glances towards the bed.
"You could say you're just finishing off your duties to our lord before your death." Da Ji waited for a protect from Masamune but when none came the fox continued. "I need you to pass a message to Lu Xun. I have some other duties to take care off and this message is very important." Da Ji smirked, batting her eye-lashes. Masamune groaned in his head.
--
The cell that Lu Xun sat in was cold and damp. Water dripped down from one corner adding to a small stream which flowed out of his cell and into the middle of the prison. The warrior cursed his foolish idea and wished he had listened to Zhen more. If I only stayed put...I wouldn't be here now. Lu Xun muttered. He touched his cheek tenderly and winced when his fingers came into contact with a painful brusie.
"Follow us my lord."
The sound of footsteps drew Lu Xun's attention away from his battered face. The footsteps were getting louder. Three shadows filled the small cell making Lu Xun look up. The warrior prayed to who ever was listen that he did not let any emotion show. Masamune glared down at Lu Xun in a manor that made the said warrior shudder. Masamune turned his gaze to the two soliders behind. "Lady Da Ji's orders. I am to speak with the prisoner alone." Masamune grunted. The two soliders looked at each othe before shrugging and walked off down the corridor. Masamune waited until their footsteps died out complete before he dropped to the floor. "Lu Xun, are you all right?"
Lu Xun crawled across the prison floor and clasped his hands over Masamune's. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Masamune, I should have..." Lu Xun stopped speaking when Masamune placed a finger to his lips.
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. This is just a bump in the road." Masamune shook his head. "If anything I'm the one who should be sorry." The dragon smiled sadly at his beloved who returned it. "Is anything broken?" The dragon inquried. If anything was, Masamune knew it would twice as difficult to get him out. Thankfully Lu Xun shook his head.
"No. I'm just brusied that's all. Why did Da Ji send you down here?" Lu Xun wondered. Masamune sighed and looked at a very interesting part of the floor. Although Lu Xun knew of his fate at the hands of Sima Yi, The dragon did not want to tell his beloved face to face. However Lu Xun seemed to clock on. "Wait. This isn't about me being a spoil of war for Sima Yi, is it?" Masamune could only nodded his head. Lu Xun panicked slightly. "But why send you to tell me? Doesn't she already know about us?"
"To mess with my head. She's acting like the cat that's got the cream at the moment which only means she's trying everything under the sun to make me slip." Masamune paused and slammed his fist onto the floor. Of course this was the same fist he had slammed into the wall of his chamber. Masamune knew he had to think fast. Getting Lu Xun and Zhen out of the castle and far away from Orochi was the most important thing to do. Suddenly Masamune got up and walked to left. Lu Xun watched, one eye brow raised.
"Masamune?"
The said warrior returned back and knelt down in front of Lu Xun. "I have an idea but I can't tell you here." Masamune smiled a little and placed a finger against Lu Xun's lips, stopping him from protesting. "Too risky. All you need to you is this. At mid-night the dragon's shadow will come to set you free." Without another word Masamune rose to his feet. "Lu Xun, please trust me." he begged. Lu Xun nodded his head.
"I trust you Masamune."
--
By the time Masamune returned to his chamber, neither Zhen nor Tiger had gone to sleep. The little wu bodyguard had been told of all the recent events by Tiger and knew she had to keep her voice down. "Is Lord Lu Xun all right?" Zhen questioned quickly. Masamune nodded his head.
"I have a plan and I know how I'm getting us all out." Masamune began. The two bodyguard lent closer to the dragon. "Midnight tonight Tiger will take care of the guards outside my chamber door and unlock the door. Then me and Zhen will head to the stable in the courtyard and gather two horses." Masamune paused for any questions but when none came he continued. "Tiger will go down into the prison and releash Lu Xun. There is a door to the left of the cells. I think it leads outside of the castle. I think it's used to get rid of dead bodies quicker...Anyway me and Zhen will be waiting there for you."
"Do you think it will work Lord Masamune?" Zhen piped up suddenly. Masamune paused briefly before nodding his head. It had to work. For all their sakes.
"Of course. We're going to get out of here Zhen. I promise you that." Masamune replied. Zhen nodded her in aknowledgement and Tiger frowned ever so slightly. Masamune raised an eyebrow. "Tiger? Is something wrong?" he inquried.
"What about Da Ji and Sima Yi? Surely they will be protrolling. They might have guessed you would come up with something like this." Tiger glanced over to the window. "I would suggested climbing out of the window but its too high. Both of you could break something if you fall." she concluded. Masamune smiled at his bodyguard.
"Which is why I want you to get Lu Xun out of that cell. There's no-one else to do the job." Masamune yawned to himself. "Besides if Sun Ce and Ieyasu can escape without anyone noticing then so can we." The dragon got up from his perch and lay down on his bed. He glanced over to Zhen who remained on the window sill by Tiger. "Maybe you should get some sleep. Tiger's a light sleeper, she hardly sleeps as it is."
Zhen smiled. "I am fine my lord. Like Tiger, I am also a light sleeper." She paused briefly to load her bow. It was a habit she couldn not break. "You are the one who needs the rest Lord Masamune." The dragon nodded his head and slowly slipped into dreams.
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