Note: Like last chapter there is a song that is to be heard while reading this to get the full atmospheric perspective. Put it on loop if you have to, but get a character's emotion this song should be heard. The song to be found on Youtube is Noor by Azam Ali. Another thing, this chapter (if it is confusing) is written from the perspective of Mehman from the first chapter.

I am a foreigner to this land. I am from a land west of this area. Dry and arid, with darker colored people with jewels and beautiful colors. I do not wear robes of extravagance though. I am a learner and a teacher with great interest in the world beyond my own.

And so I wander around, learning their culture. The people here are repressed and reserved for the most part, which takes me by surprise of their colorful clothing and their penchant for exaggerating tales to make them myth. These people are also innately curious, always seeking knowledge and they praise intelligence, hence my role as a wandering teacher. These people take one look at my attire and my face and they immediately grow curious. Eventually, one asks me a question.

I have also realized that many of the "intelligent" men are innately arrogant. I had wandered in the land of Shu and found their people to be happy, though a bit naïve and a tad paranoid. They looked at me in wonderment, some taking on the defensive at the strange intruder, but once I expressed my humbleness they drew to me and asked me of my knowledge from my own home. A former hermit who was now a revered strategist came to me and asked me of my knowledge. I replied, "I have experiences, not knowledge."

The former hermit frowned at my reply. His hermitage was no doubt a life of study. He would forever be naïve of life's experiences. Yet his arrogance prevented him from discussing with me further, even though I had a desire to ask of his knowledge.

I had wandered in the land of a man named Cao Cao. It was vast and diverse. They had merchants that used camels, a practice I had not seen anywhere else but my homeland. Their people were hard working, severe and a little greedy.

I had traveled even further seeking to see sea. I entered a land of warmth with pockets of jungle. This land was ruled by a young foolish boy, but everyone seemed stable. I was a little in shock when I encountered the people. They were of a different physique than the others. They were generally taller and sturdy and many of the males had the ability to grow full beards. They had darker skin not unlike mine. They were a lively bunch when dealing with others and were open with each other, not afraid to laugh in public. They wore thinner layers of clothing and many often bared skin in the heat. Though many were not very scholarly or intelligent in the classical sense, they had practical knowledge, especially of waterways and boats. Most of all, these men could hunt using the surroundings to their advantage, much like a tiger, which they all seemed revere.

I grew to become comfortable in this place. The people were curious of me and often sought to have lively discussions. I had found a temporary hovel to reside in as I studied the people of this land called Wu. Even higher officers of the court would come to my place and have me tell of my travels, wide-eyed like children. I smiled. I could tell they soaked my experiences up. Children came to me eagerly and asked me of my homeland. In return I asked of their homeland. That is how I became a teacher and a learner. Through children, I learned of the local heroes. Most of which were pirates and thieves, now working to protect this land. I grew to admire these heroes, whose loyalty was unwavering.

One day, something happened that upset me a little. After giving curious young men and women a short sermon of my people I had returned home to retire for the night. A knock came at my door, it was short and desperate.

Wondering what it could be about, I opened my door. My guest was a man younger than me by a few decades. His face was fine and fair, strong angles forming his face. He had long thick dark hair that the gods would have envied and normally he would have an air of utmost grace and an imposing figure. Now he was wrapped in a shaggy cloak despite the heat and he was shaking. His pale face looked as if it would be clammy if I touched it and deep circles sat under his piercing, hypnotizing eyes. A shadow was formed on his straight jaw and upper lip, as if he hadn't shaved for the day. This man obviously hadn't slept, eaten, or taken care of his health in a while. Mostly, he looked disturbed. I feared he would collapse at my doorstep.

"I heard…you have an open ear," the man's voice said, wavering.

"That I do, my guest, but if you have a problem, I cannot help of your health."

"I do not seek help for my health, nor did I ask for it. I asked for someone who could listen to my plea."

I kept my face passive, uncertain of this man. He was sweating now and I feared if he had a disease and that I may catch it. I backed away towards my favorite chair, leaving the door open for my guest to enter if he so chose.

"You may enter my abode. I fear it is not the comfort of your home."

He glanced up at me with weary, glossy eyes and nodded starting forward. He made the first few steps, before dropping and scrambling forward to me, falling onto his knees. His breathing was heavy, and I feared the man would die before my eyes. He remained on his knees looking up at me, as if I were some holy savior.

This poor wretch garnered my pity and I had longed to have him lay before me as I sang a lullaby from my homeland to have him settle down. Instead, I glared down upon him as if he were just dirt.

"Please…" he gasped in broken tones, "I need someone to speak of this to."

I sat in my chair, fingers entwined in my beard.

"Would you not speak to someone more trustworthy? A person whom you know?"

He shook his head, "I cannot. Given who I am, I cannot speak of my problems to my friends without cause of undue worry."

"Then may I ask who you are?"

The man looked down on the floor, avoiding my gaze, "I am but your guest. As desperate man looking for someone who will hear me."

"You are my guest, young sir. But it would give me honor to know thy name."

"May you not speak of my identity to anyone, or of my problems then?"

I nodded in agreement, "This is my home and a home is a private place."

The shuddering man finally let his own identity fall from his lips in a cryptic form, "I was not borne unto them but was welcomed as one who was. The eldest brother of the Sun clan who is now deceased was my brother. I am now brother to the lord of this land and guardian of the sister and the youngest Sun…"

The man drifted and I finally put the pieces together. I had heard tales of the man before me. One of the most handsome men in this land that often brought unwanted fantasies to married women who saw him. If only they could see him now, sweating and shaking, wrapped in tatters.

So sat before me a man of the highest degree, who accomplished and experienced more in his short time on this earth than most god-warriors did in their endless lifetime. The guardian of the Sun family stood before me, keening in agony like a wounded dog.

"It is Lord Zhou Yu then," I answered his riddle, stifling my awe and surprise, "I am humbled to have you here."

The handsome man tilted his black head back, eyes searing into mine own. His eyes were not brown and I distinctly remember thinking I had never seen such eyes before. They were a bronze-gold, shining brilliantly in the light of my meager fire that lay crackling in the far corner of my living room. I had often thought they were strangely cold despite their brilliance, but I knew that was due to weariness. Experiencing more hardships that no man his age should have to suffer through.

It was possible that I saw many of the men in my homeland in him, ragged after trying to save their families from western invaders.

"You should not be humbled by what remains of me," Zhou Yu gasped, his whisper like a flutter of a flame.

I felt my forehead crease as I took him in with scrutiny.

"Are you ill?" I asked, "Should I call a doctor or give you some food?"

He shook his head again, "I told you. Will you not hear me? Please I must say this to someone before I…I…"

"Why do you not tell of your struggle at home? Your comrades will understand that you are but human. Or yet, lie in your bed, amongst the warmth of your sheets with your wife and tell her, as sure as she would have an open ear…"

"No!" his desperate voice took on a deep roar from deep within his chest. He fell back, breathing heavily as he tried to calm him down. He wept silently, no tears shed, but by the bearing of his teeth I could tell he was in agony.

"I haven't slept or eaten in weeks. I cannot stand for more than a moment. I sweat and feel like dying…" he withdrew and inhaled. "I can no longer control feelings or urges. That is why I cannot talk to friends and comrades. They think me insane now. I insulted a warrior of greater prestige and age than my own. I have lost my temper and spoke with malice to a friend. My wife no doubt fears me after I lost control of myself and said and did terrible things to her."

I swallowed and could not hide my surprise, "My heavens! What has you in such a state?"

"Visions. Constant dreams that plague every waking moment," Zhou Yu replied, "They are the cause of my short temper and unrestraint. I can no longer find the use to trying to discern my visions from reality. I hope they are not visions of what is yet to come."

I stroked my beard, noticing the man's gaze towards the fire in the corner. It was intent and distant, almost as if he were listening to the flames. They were calling him and he was, in my opinion, seeing his demons within those flames.

"What visions do you see?"

"Fire…" he breathed eyes still on the object of his inherent desire, "Striped beasts prowling every shadow. It started with dreams."

"What of your dreams?"

"I was amongst flames. They were caressing my skin like a dangerous lover. I saw a sea and water, but the flames did not shirk away. I could hear cries of men, howls of their agony, the boiling of their skin…"

He paused and gave a short sob, "…and I didn't care…I had no remorse for those the fire tortured. I was passive when tigers sprang from those flames and devoured those figures. I still didn't care. I wasn't appalled. I didn't cringe. I knew I wasn't harming my allies, but an enemy. A kingdom or a warlord's men. Yet still, I usually feel some sorrow at the lives lost. But now I didn't care."

Zhou Yu faced me and my spine quaked. His eyes, normally cold and filled with the tears of his condition, were now solid, flaming like a thousand suns. I saw before me a man capable of bringing the entirety of all the combined armies of this land to its knees. This fair and docile looking man, I could tell, had that tiger inside, crouching, begging to spring out and bear his fangs.

"I get the feeling that someone will seek to take what my brothers have attained away and I will fight at them with the very embers that are now boiling in my blood. It is like my body is preparing for a fight that will not come."

I said nothing and thought nothing. I just observed. His bones and sinew were pressed against the muscle under his skin. He was tense and rigid; a rope that was about to snap.

"I crave no war, O noble man," he said to me, "I wish for peace for my land, my home, my brothers, my family. Is it wrong to desire such a thing? Is that why the gods have plagued me with these visions?"

I did not respond right away, and my overbearing gaze seemed to slowly crumble him before me. I had no right to tell him what the gods had in store for him. They had been generous by giving him a loving home, friends and a wife, and yet, foolish and deranged is he, he let it all slowly slip through his fingers.

"I shall not pass my judgment upon you or pass any deity's judgment. The only one who has brought your soul into this wretched vice is yourself. You are passing on your own judgment."

He heaved a sigh, shoulders sinking, eyes still on me, pleading and worried.

"You are indeed wise. I was correct in seeking you out," he praised me and it seemed for a moment that the unmanageable weight of his prophetic visions were slowly rising from his shoulders. "I know I have asked for an open ear, but please, as your humble guest, I would ask your advice. How do I rid these dreams and visions? I am desperate. I must return to the palace of my brothers with my mind as it was without the snarling beasts and scalding heat."

I smirked under my beard. This young man presumes too much of me. Or he presumes that at my age that I had experienced such horrors. I had not…yet.

"These are just trifling wares," I say to him, "I cannot prescribe a cure, since your confession to me seems to have alleviated your struggle. As the days go by, do not think of what might happen or will happen. Your thinking should be on the now, experiencing these sunny days. Save your prophetic worries for strategies."

Zhou Yu did not seem entirely satisfied with my words, but he took it to heart, and he, being a respectful man did not want to keep me up late with his woes. He stood and bowed, as is the manner of these people.

"I have kept you from your comfort…and your fire. I cannot bother you more. You have done as I asked and I will forever be grateful. By allowing me into your warm home, you gave me solace from my traitorous mind. For this I thank you."

He shakily stood on his feet, seeming taller and more sure of himself than when he entered. I left the comfort of my chair and followed him to my door. I had stopped him. He turned his seemingly inhuman eyes upon me.

"Before you leave my abode, I would advise you to let your brothers help you. There is no need to take the weight you dead brother left solely on your shoulders. If they be truly your friends, then they would be happy to lift the burden."

I dared not tell him my interpretation of his prophetic visions, for fear they would come true and it would unease his poor soul even more.

"I see. Is this your advice?"

"It is as much I can give. Go home, good man. Drink with your friends and brothers, make love to your wife, and enjoy what the heavens have brought you. Let all the haunting thoughts fly away into the sky, as like embers drifting into the wind."

His jaw muscle quivered and I noticed, his hard features relaxed, and he gave me nod.

Yet, as he left my home and drifted into the shadows, like a lonely, troubled spirit, I could not ignore the horrors of my thoughts of this man…or what he would do.

I had a feeling, as I continued my travels that the gods had sent him to me for a reason.

Mehman is Persian for "Guest".