Might be a bit late to warn you, but it's going to be chat heavy for a couple of chapters just to get everything in order before the battle. I think it'll be worth it as I don't want to just throw them into the battlefield from the off, especially with no weapons...and no army.

STORY WRITING HO!

Part 2

Prison

straight from a foggy Mian Zhu into...cages. That's all I can describe it as.

A whole unit of riflemen just for us. We seemed to wander into the claws of the enemy.

But for what cause...

and how did The Three Kingdoms become so advanced?

For what it's worth, the soldier in me told me to leave those questions

they'd have there time...as would a lot of other things

Due to how the cage was made, I didn't get a good view of the place we were. The solid wood being very tight, preventing any movement, aside from the occasional head-bang as I hit the top. I just crossed my arms, sighing as I managed to think things through.

These things had wheels. If this were Chinese we'd be made to walk, so there's something different. Rifles meant an advance in tech, so this certainly wasn't The Three Kingdoms. Yue Ying with a LOT of time might be able to make something like that but she died during the fall of Bai Di. Saying that Derrick died at Fan and he's back.

At a point...a while in, I was forced to lean back as we apparently hit a hill. It leveled out at a point to turn, then a flat, then repeating like 3 times. It's too...organized to be a hill so...a castle maybe? So He Fei Castle, Xu Chang or Chang An...but then they weren't tiered like this. There wasn't much conversation from what I heard...either that or we caught them when no one was around, or they were scared by what this represented.

We stopped eventually with an echo...so we must have been indoors. In a few seconds after this, someone yanked open my prison, looking me straight in the eye, wearing a weird hat with armor I'd liken to some sort of mail. He backed up quickly, pointing the rifle straight at my chest. I barely reacted, blinking twice.

"We both know that's as likely to fire as it is to backfire" I told him, bluffing. As it stood, he'd tear me a new one. He backed away quickly, another one coming up and slamming the butt of his rifle in my face. Guess I could appreciate the craftsmanship first hand as my eyes become imprinted with the wooden pattern, then flashing red before fading to black. Last thing I felt, besides pain, was the rought stone floor as I hit it hard.

Drip...drip...drip...

"Trust Craig to sleep through something like this" I heard Simon speak, my senses slowly returning.

"You try getting hit with a rifle" Sarah replied. I could hear footsteps, water drops, and one particulaly heavy person walking towards me.

"Let me try this" was that Derrick?

SPLOSH! I shot awake as water...I hope, was poured on the back of my head. I breathed in deeply, looking at the floor as I lifted myself up slowly. OK, now I KNOW I was hit in the head, massaging the my left eye, feeling a sharp pain along with a warm sensation.

"Thanks for the wake up call" I spoke, hearing the bucket hitting the floor. "What did I miss?" hopefully nothing much. I looked around, finding the six of us in what I can only describe as a prison cell, big enough for movement, but not big enough to be comfy. One silt in the wall at a height too high to get to along the smooth wall provided the only light, and there was a crack in a corner which had been built around to give some sort of aqueduct if that makes any sense, carrying water from the crack, from some water source...must be the river, to here. I didn't know Cheng Du had a leak underneath it...and had four tiers to the castle...this can't be Cheng Du.

"You didn't miss anything" Derrick spoke, now stripped of his armor and given some peasant wear. Nice to see him without a helmet for once. "We were released, shown your unconscious form, blindfolded and led here. Wasn't a long trip" He sat in the corner, cracking his neck. "Your heavy by the way...have you gained weight since the last time I carried you?"

"Fan was a lifetime ago for me mate. I don't know my weight differences, but I'm not in my weapons and armor" I moved my hand away from my eye, walking over to the bars and testing them. They look like cast iron...too advanced for any of the three kingdoms considering they barely had iron and bronze. I barely put my hand on them when...

"Trust me, they aren't going to give anytime soon" I heard a female voice speak. I recoiled back, turning towards it over to the next cell, seeing a figure staying out of the light. I couldn't really tell anything apart from the voice was young but...lacked innocence. It was hardly the feminine voice you expect from a girly girl, but definitely a woman's voice. "For what it's worth, they were made to last, not to look good" I walked over to the border between cells, placing my hands on the bars and trying to make out what she was.

"You are?" I asked her, hearing no movements from her end, apart from the odd breathes.

"They called me Fukuda Chiharu...and you don't look like anything I've ever seen before...and I saw a lot" I heard her stand up, seeing her outline move, hearing her feet step into a puddle. "So, you're either another Nanban that I have yet to see come to our land...or there is something else going on" Chiharu...where have I heard that before? And Nanban...where the hell is that from?

"Your land? Excuse me Miss, but if this is your land, I've never seen you in the ranks of the army of Shu" Sarah pitched in, walking up to the bars. "Hell, that's not even a name that came to my ears"

"My name is Chiharu...you would be wise to learn it and use it" OK, think I know the answer now, after that small hint...and Chiharu Fukuda...now I know...I remember her in history.

"The Forgotten Thunder of the Tachibana..." I spoke. I saw her look towards me in the shadows, and could tell that she was surprised I had gotten it right. "I remember your tale..."

"If you know it then speak it..."

"Alright then...the younger sister, supposedly, to Muneshige Tachibana, who appeared in the mists of history out of nowhere. Was sent in an arranged marriage to the Oda Clan in order to secure an alliance between the pair, which carried on until Nobutada's demise. Served the Toyotomi until the East West Divide, where you served in the Sanada and later Toyotomi army. Captured at Osaka's Winter siege...and made to fight your friends during the summer siege...you apparently never looked back when fighting"

There was an odd silence as people took in what I had said, no motions, no noise, just silence. If I was right, I had just told this woman her life story. If I was wrong, I had just said a load of nonsense for nothing. I kept my eyes on her, and she kept looking at me.

No movements, just the silent exchange...until she tutted, swinging her arm down.

"Looks like you know your history...Fu Xi of Wu" She replied. I could see her head move as she looked around the group. "Which would make them...Fei Guan...Ma Wengi...Nu Wa...Shinra...and Su Zhi" I blinked twice, hearing the group do the same.

"How do you know?" Su asked. I heard a hmm come from Chiharu, followed by a tut.

"Well, I had read about the Warrior of Art...and she's still looking the same as I read. Not to mention she's been talking about the last time she saw her love, Ling Tong...after that one fell into place, I heard your real name and remember reading about how people would switch between Fu Xi and that at random times, mostly between a group of seven people. Those named being them...do wonder where Chen Yin is however" She crossed her arms. "Gotta say, you don't exactly measure up to the demon in the tales"

"Long story on that front...what about you? You don't exactly look like the Woman who can strike fear into the Demon King himself"

She chuckled at this, walking around slowly in her cell, pacing for a while. This woman was meant to be smart, cunning, strong...a female version of what I came to be known for in China, except in Japan, and never gave up. And right now, all I'm getting from her is that she's good at working things out. She started walking to the bars.

"You talk a lot for someone who is scarred..." she stopped in front of the bars, moving her head close enough to see in the light whilst leaning on the bars. She had one of those Topknot things keeping her hair back in a very large ponytail going all the way down her back. And I thought Zhou Yu had long hair. Her face was clean...but that wasn't what kept me looking. I remember how I got scarred after Chi Bi...She looked like she had taken worse with at least five, two being deep. And I thought my scars were bad. Her eyes...I'm going to say a Hallow blue, but when I say Hollow I don't mean she was blind or anything along those lines, I mean...this is one of those things that I can only explain after having been through the war, and it's something that I've found with Simon and Sarah ever since. All of our eyes had this weird glint to them only others who had done the same could see. I would say the Thousand Yard stare but...that isn't it. It's similar, but not if that makes any sense at all.

I didn't flinch, but I felt Sarah recoil at this, even hearing a gasp from Melissa. This might be due to the amount of hell I had been through in comparison to the pair. And that's not saying Sarah and Simon, along with Chen, Derrick and Melissa hadn't, Shu and Wei had had more battles each then Wu, granted. I had lead assault after assault after assault for Wu, and even doing some duties on the backlines...even stuff no one would learn about. Sarah had been an archer...albeit with a bladed bow. And Melissa, too caught up in the dance to think about the death she wrought.

Chiharu smirked, noting my unwavering resolve to keep looking. "Just like you...I've been through hell...and we've both walked out of it alive...I can respect you for that. So let me give you some help...welcome to Azuchi" Azuchi? Nobunaga's base of operations? That was like the largest castle in Japan in the age. It never got tested in battle, but...a four tier fort... guess I was right.

"Those didn't look like Oda troops though...too...undisciplined" She chuckled, leaning back and resting against a wall, arms crossed.

"You're telling me. I served amongst them remember?" she sighed, looking away. "I don't know what's going on...but they are the Saika Rebels...and to give them credit, it's a good idea. I have no idea who's a friend and who's a foe anymore. And the rifles are going to rip us a new one if we try anything"

Oh Joy, the Saika Rebels. Let's see... what was the history on them? A small group in the Ikko Ikki who used Firearms. In terms of skill, on par with the Oda Muskets, in terms of numbers...no chance. But if the rebels are here...then Magoichi Saika must be...he's a reasonable guy...to the ladies.

"Hey Melissa" I speak, turning around to her slowly, seeing her doing a handstand in front of Derrick. She looked at me upside down, raising an eyebrow. "How would you like to play Diplomat?" She slipped back over, looking over her shoulder at me, giving me a confident smile.