This chapter has been edited and re-post. Don't care? Skip it.

I do not own any of the DW characters; they belong to Koei or whoever. I do own the OC and some minor characters that might pop up.

Our travels took two days. In that time the only people to approach me were my guards, Sun Shang Xiang, and once Tong. He came to tell me that, after the little spat between Zhao Yun and Ning, Sun Quan had asked Ning not to approach me again without a good reason. It kind of irked me that he had done that but I chose not to say anything, better to keep the tense peace that shrouded the armies than open my mouth and anger everyone. In the meeting, I had learned that this was going to be an incredibly important battle so I really did not want to instigate any more in fighting.

Not even Zhao Yun had come over since the day we began the journey, although I had seen him a few times. He had been making rounds the last time we had made camp, when he came to check in with us, he spoke to Yue Ying and simply returned my wave and walked away. It was somewhat nice to have him back off a bit, yet not totally ignoring me. Between that and my wounds healing well my mood seemed to grow more and more cheery each day, something that Xing Cai made a point to say something about; commenting on how nice it was not to have to look over to me only to receive a glare in return. I apologized to her; I had not realized that I was doing that to people.

This morning found us grouping together on the on the south side of a river, boats were lined up across it that seemed to be ours and there were more facing us about a hundred yards down river. The other boats seemed to be chained together, something that Zhuge Liang had mentioned during the meeting, but I think I was dozing during that part. I shrugged at the sight. Oh well, not my job to worry about it. Looking around the new campsite, I decided I would go find something to make myself look busy for a while. As I wandered around I managed to help a few soldiers with their armor or something of the like, before making my way to go give Bay a good brushing.

Reaching the side of the white beast as he stood tied to a branch I began to get as much of the dust out of his coat when I heard footsteps behind me. I at first ignored them until I realized that they had come to a stop right behind me. I craned my head slightly to take a glance at who it was and lo and behold, there stood Zhao Yun. He stared at me for a moment before looking to the grass. His whole body relayed that he was unsure about speaking to me. I could not really blame him. I had been all over the place in my mind the last time. To lighten the mood, I gave Bay a pat and turned to face the man. I smiled and tipped my head to the side, trying to relay that I was not angry and listening. He returned my smile and reach out to take my hand.

"Lady Koa, I just wanted to tell you to be careful and stay with your guards. They will protect you. Yue Ying and Xing Cai have made it known that they wish to head out now. It will be this morning that the battle begins." He turned slightly to the side and pointed to a large hill on the far side of the boats. "I will be up there with Zhuge Liang, you remember the plan right?"

"Yes, from the hill there will be three torches; one will be lit so we can see them; the second will be lit to warn us to get ready. If the third is lit then we are to make our appearance on the field. If they are extinguished at any point we are to turn and escape back to the marshes, and make our way back to Jiangling without looking back." He nodded to me, accepting my understanding of the plan. He then squeezed my hand and leaned close to me. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me again, but instead he only rested his forehead on mine and closed his eyes. We stood there quiet for some time before a female voice broke us apart. Xing Cai had come to help me ready Bay. Zhao Yun bid me farewell and took his leave. I stared at the newly arrived woman as she gave me a knowing smile. I shook my head and went to help her saddle Bay. I hope this works.

Once Bay was ready Xing Cai handed me a cloak, telling me I need to put it on for now, then she and I led him over to where Yue Ying and the others were waiting for us. We mounted up and slowly made our way across the boats. Once on the other side we passed Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun heading up the mound, I gave them both a wave to which Zhuge Liang bowed and Zhao Yun returned. Next, we were headed up the hills in front of us. We were to find a spot where we could see the torches and wait for our signal. We ended up in a small meadow with several large stone blocking our view, so we send one of the men in the group to sit on them and watch. It was not long until he called down that the first torch had been lit, seconds later the sounds of battle cries and clashing metal reached us. I saw Yue Ying give a quick prayer, probably for her husband's safety.

We dismounted for a few hours so we would not get sore while waiting and I removed the cloak. As the sun was moved directly overhead the guard on the rocks scrambled to the edge to inform us that the second torch had been lit. We all scurried to return to out horses while another guard brought the lookout's ride to the side of the rock so that he could make a hasty mount. After waiting for so long for the second torch the minutes between it and the lighting of the third seemed like only two heartbeats. When the call came down from the rocks, we tapped our horses into motion and made out way down the hill.

As we reached the field I realized why they had finally called us out, all the way to the base of the hill where Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun were was overrun with the enemy. Yue Ying and Xing Cai pushed the guards to circle me as they started for the enemy ships, killing foot soldiers as we went. As we hacked and slashed through the field, we began to draw everyone's attention, just as we wanted. We stopped our advance toward the opposing ships about half way up the bank and stood our ground fighting anyone who came near us.

Apparently, one of the enemy soldiers recognized me and turned tail to go inform the next person I saw. He rode up fully armored with his axes at the ready, and even through his helmet, I could see his glare at me. I guess that throw to the ground did not hurt him as much as I would have liked. He charged Xing Cai and knocked her from her horse, the others moved to help her in an instant, leaving his path to me completely open. As he advanced on me, I froze, unsure as to what I should do, in a flash there was a staff locked with his axes. Yue Ying had come back to defend me, I made a mental note to thank her immensely when this was over as I pulled Bay to gain a little distance between him and I, as she had ordered me three times already. I moved myself back towards our side of the battlefield, now realizing that the path was empty. All of the enemy soldiers either must have fled or been beaten; I glanced around taking a rough count of the bodies that were strewn around. Most have fled...

I stopped my run where I could still see Yue Ying and the other fighting Zhang Liao but I would still have enough time to dart away should he make a move for me. As I sat there, staring at the fight, the breeze felt good on my face, so I was a little sad when it suddenly left my face; only to return in tenfold force from behind me. I quickly tried to move my hair from my face so that I could see. It seemed that the moment I was blind the entire world had shifted. A clear view of the battlefield showed hordes of enemy charging to help Zhang Liao. Yue Ying and Xing Cai were trying to cut their losses and run but he kept hammering on them, cutting off their paths with a swing his axes.

A strange feeling came over me, one I had only felt once before, in the barn. I tightened my grip on the reigns, readying to charge forward to help my friends when I heard a roar behind me. Glancing over my shoulder I almost fell over at the sight. It looked almost as if the entire army was coming to our rescue. Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei were leading the charge. They blew right past me and went to help their loved ones, which made me smile. Most of the others followed them, but I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was small and light, turning to face the person I was met by large green eyes.

"Hey, are you alright? He didn't hit you did he?" Sun Shang Xiang asked. I shook my head and returned my eyes to the new fight right before us. It seemed our allies had the upper hand now. Zhang Liao and his men were being pushed back as I caught the oddest site out of the corner of my eye. Looking up I studied the oddity, a lone boat was skimming across the river, toward the enemies ships. As it got closer the men on board surprised me even more, they set their boat on fire! Now it had become a missile headed for the enemy. Then something clicked to me, the ships are tied together. There was going to be no way to lessen that fire, the whole fleet was going to be ash! That was the plan I had slept though...

A sickening sound grabbed my eyes from the ships, a cry from a very familiar voice. Without thinking about it, I pushed Bay to full speed and into the heart of the battle, ignoring Sun Shang Xiang's cries for me to stop. I darted in between fighters, frantically searching for the source of the cry. The feeling from before began to swell in me, I felt like I was suffocating. The flames of the enemy fleet lit the battle up like a spotlight in the sinking sun, I was thankful for that. When I reached the middle of the field is when I spotted something that made my heart stop.

His polished silver armor was filthy and barely hanging in place. His right arm was bare of it armor and bleeding profusely from a multitude of injuries. He held his spear in his left as he knelt on the ground doing his best to defend against the barrage of attacks form his purple clad opponent. The man was tall with long black hair and cold brown eyes. His clothes were a mix of white and purple, different from the others greatly. It was, however, his sword that drew my attention, the heavily designed metal weapon was now being held over his head in preparation for a powerful blow. My eyes shot to Zhao Yun to see him hunched over unable to protect himself. A scream tore from my throat as I kicked Bay into a gallop. I held my arm out in a vain attempt to reach him over the distance. I knew I was too late as the sword began to descend onto Zhao Yun's helpless form. Tears filled my eyes and I felt my stomach drop.

Warmth filled my body as white light shone brightly from my extended hand. I heard screams from the crowds around me. My vision began to blur as I neared Zhao Yun and his foe. The last thing I saw was his deep brown eyes stare at me, a mix of fear and concern filling them. Then the world went dark.

PS- Please R&R the reviews would help me greatly in writing, I would like to know what you think of the story so far.

Thanks

-Alwayshappytohelp