"Forward!!" yelled Ma Chao, before charging off too. "Take them down!"
The army answered with a cheer and they too rushed forward.
It was the start of Summer, and the heat was starting to take its toll. The Shu army was battling Liu Zhang, in an attempt to take over the Riverlands. Liu Bei, being akin to Liu Zhang was reluctant to fight, but with Zhuge Liang's superb persuasion skills, Liu Bei finally consented.
Liu Zhang's force was small, and not very strong. The Shu army was spirited, and was better in every way. The battle was nothing hard.
Ma Chao, riding his white horse into battle, slashed through the enemy soldiers around him. It seemed easy. If Liu Zhang was not planning on fighting to the death, they would surrender soon. He glanced around him and spotted Zhao Yun in the distance, doing the same thing Ma Chao was doing. Killing. Ma Chao concentrated on the battle and continued to slice at the soldiers with his Silver Stallion.
Soon, Liu Zhang gave up and surrendered, asking Liu Bei to spare the peoples' lives. Lord Liu Bei, being the benevolent man he was, accepted gratefully. But according to Zhuge Liang, Liu Zhang could not stay, for there was no room for two rulers, and so he was sent to the country side.
The battle had ended, and rather quickly too.
Ma Chao stood in the aftermath of the battle, standing still, observing. Liu Zhang's army had retreated, and Liu Bei's were either retreating as well, or searching for some of their own allies who could be alive and camouflaged in the piles of dead bodies from both sides.
Killing was wrong, wasn't it?
"Ma Chao," came a light voice, but it was heard quite clearly. It was a quiet aftermath.
Ma Chao easily recognised the voice. "Cai."
She came into view beside him, holding her weapon and shield loosely. "Thinking about the lives of the dead? Or maybe how we shouldn't be killing each other for land and power?"
Ma Chao turned and smiled at her, his helmet and garments stained with a small splatters of blood. "You know me well."
"My advice," started Xing Cai. "Stop thinking about it. You were born as a warrior for wars. To fight. Although killing is wrong, it is a necessity if we are to stop evil people from taking over the country and dooming us all. If all of us could stop fighting and just go home and spend the rest of our lives in peace, it would be nice. But sadly, not all people think that. Some of them want power over others. Therefore, we must rise with our weapons at the ready to defend this land."
"Nice speech." Ma Chao smirked. "But I understand, and I will stop thinking about it."
Xing Cai nodded. "That's good." She placed her hand on his shoulder and steered him back to camp. "We should go. Don't tarry here for too long, you could contract some terrible disease."
XXXXXXXXXX
They had been good friends for over two months, Ma Chao and Xing Cai. Whenever they got the chance, they would head to the Peach Blossom Cliff. Their excuse was that they wanted peace and quiet, but the real reason was that they wanted to see each other.
Shu had just defeated Liu Zhang and his army, taking over the Riverlands. Things were turning out well for Lord Liu Bei. Soon, he would be able to go after Wu, and avenge his fallen brothers.
After the battle, the soldiers and generals had retired to their rooms. But for Ma Chao, the first place to go was the Peach Blossom Cliff. If Xing Cai was not there, he could relax in the scenery. And if Xing Cai was there…well then, he could enjoy Xing Cai. As company.
When he arrived at the cliff, there was no one, so Ma Chao seated himself on his own crate. To avoid confusion(1), Ma Chao had etched his own crate with a smiley face. And the crate table was not big enough. So Ma Chao brought another crate of the same height and stuck it beside Xing Cai's crate table with a strange sticky concoction designed by Hua To himself when he came to heal Guan Yu's arm. The strange sticky concoction was strange, but it served its purpose.
Ma Chao pulled his helmet off and set it on the, now rather large, table. He wondered why he tended to wear the helmet during times when he was not fighting. It seemed like it had grown as a part of him. Damn helmet.
"Chao!" called out Xing Cai. She appeared at the entrance with a wave.
"Hey Cai!" Ma Chao noticed a big bag on Xing Cai's shoulder. "What's that?"
"A bag," answered Xing Cai. She stepped towards her special crate and emptied the mysterious contents of the bag onto the table. Watercolours, paintbrushes, ink, large rolls of paper, a water bottle and a small glass jar rolled out. Ma Chao, with his fast reactions, just managed to catch the glass jar which was about to roll off the table. He set it upright on the table with a thump.
"Painting?" asked Ma Chao.
Xing Cai nodded. "So it seems." She set up her brushes, paint and paper, filled the glass jar with water from her water bottle and picked up her brush, ready to start.
"So, are you going to paint the scenery?" asked Ma Chao, all the while wondering why Xing Cai seemed so quiet. Maybe it was because of Zhang Fei's death. With another nod, Xing Cai dabbed the brush into some black ink and began to paint. She had a soft style of painting, her strokes were confident and even. Ma Chao watched as the scenery took shape on Xing Cai's canvas. Flowers, trees and bushes filled with berries which no one knew if they were edible or not, filled the paper. She painted in the bare branches of the Peach Blossoms. They were a stark contrast to the Summer flowers for Peach Blossoms only bloomed in Winter. Ma Chao looked in awe as Xing Cai coloured in her master piece. He wished he could paint so well. But there was no hope for him, he could not even draw a proper looking stick person.
There was a blank patch on the left of the artwork. Ma Chao was about to ask why when Xing Cai spoke up first.
"Stand there Chao," said Xing Cai as she filled colour in the plants and flowers on the artwork. She pointed to a spot next to one of the bare Peach Blossoms. It was the exact spot on as the white patch on Xing Cai's art. Ma Chao did as told, face glowing against the setting sun. He admired the scenery from his position. The valley below was absolutely breathtaking.
"Look that way," ordered Xing Cai, analysing Ma Chao's position.
"What am now? Your model?" questioned Ma Chao with a light laugh.
"You could say that," answered Xing Cai with a cheeky grin. "Alright, look off into the distance that way. Don't move."
"Now I'll have to play statue!" exclaimed Ma Chao before shutting up and observing. How he wished he could fly down and explore the valley, soaring just above the water. A wave of calmness washed over him as he dreamed of this and his long golden hair swayed gently in the warm Summer wind.
A while later, Xing Cai laid down her brush, having finished her artwork.
"Look Chao, I've finished."
Ma Chao came to her side and smiled. He just couldn't stop looking at himself in the picture. The details were so very intricate; Xing Cai had drawn each part of him so accurately and fine. It seemed everyone strand of his golden hair had its own character.
"Not only do you have a talent for fighting, you also have one for art!" exclaimed Ma Chao.
Xing Cai beamed. "Why thank you!"
Ma Chao looked up from the painting and locked with Xing Cai's eyes. He had fancied her after a short time of knowing her. Xing Cai was gentle, calm and kind. This time, he finally picked up his courage to confess. She reminded him a little of Yang, but that was beside the point. Ma Chao did not love Xing Cai because she was similar to Yang! He loved her because Xing Cai was Xing Cai, the one and only Xing Cai.
"But nothing can be compared to your beauty and your kind heart."
Xing Cai stared at Ma Chao, unable to look away. Not that she wanted to. Ma Chao took Xing Cai's hand into his. "I'm…tired of being alone," he said in a soft whispery voice.
Xing Cai gazed into Ma Chao's chocolate orbs. Guan Ping, her childhood friend whom she had a crush on for a while, had died so unexpectedly, along with his father Guan Yu. What hurt the most was her father's recent death. It was only a matter of time before Liu Bei would move his army to attack Wu. Their deaths had left Xing Cai feeling abandoned, and it was the same for Ma Chao who had lost his entire family to Cao Cao. It was only right for these two lonely souls to seek solace and love in each other.
"I wish not to be alone either," answered Xing Cai.
The couple exchanged a soft smile. Ma Chao leaned in closer and kissed Xing Cai ever so lightly. But before they knew it, they had wrapped their arms around each other and were kissed heatedly. They parted to catch their breath, leaning their foreheads against each others'. Ma Chao embraced Xing Cai once again, holding her close.
"I love you," whispered Ma Chao. Xing Cai grinned. It seemed nothing could separate them.
With a look of longing from both lovers, they kissed again.
(1) Xing Cai said that her crate was designed to suit her body. Don't ask, it looked just like a normal brown cube. There wasn't any difference, but Xing Cai argued that there was.
A/N: ohohoho, fail chapter. Omg, fail romance _ Please forgive me. I am so lame! *headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*
Anyways, please R&R!