Battle of Xiaoyao Ford (Zhang Liao only)

[Gan Ning]

Location: Xiaoyao Ford, He Fei
Characters: Gan Ning, Zhang Liao, and Ding Feng (npc)
Terrain: Riverbank
Music: Dynasty Warriors 3 - Men of Intelligence

War, the sounds of death and the smell of blood. Those were the first senses that picked up what truly happened here. When one opened his eyes, he could see the devastation and death that was wrought by men intent on killing one another. The taste of horror and confusion resonated in the very air itself. Only the gripping tightly of the weapons could a man keep himself from flying into a full blown terror.

Yet there was one man, Gan Ning, who was not at all bewildered or frightened by the carnage happening around him. No. He reveled in it, saw the joy in bloodshed. For it was here that he was able to show his true might, his true power. Let the scholars hide in their castles, for it was the warriors who would be sung about in song of victory. It was those who truly risked their lives that were the true heroes of the land.

So with a smile on his lips, the general of the bells admired all before him. He had arrived with his companion, Ding Feng, to help out his lord's younger brother, Sun Quan. Sun Quan had been tasked with taking the lands to the north. Namely He Fei.

Gan Ning and Ding Feng had only been tasked with reinforcing the prince. Yet as they had gotten closer they had been informed of a drastic turn of events. For it would seem that a smaller Wei force had emerged and not only taken on the much larger Wu force, but had started to push it back.

Sun Ce would not be happy about that.

None of that matter to Ning, though, for he had heard something else. That the Wei general and warrior Zhang Liao was here. And that it was he leading the charge against Sun Quan. Already Zhou Tai had fought against the menace and had managed to throw him back away from Quan. But he had come back and was now charging against the Wu lines, by crossing the river.

So it was that Gan Ning knew he needed to be moving, now, to secure the beachhead against the forces of Wei. And he could see, off in the distance, Zhang Liao, fighting against the swarm of Wu soldiers trying desperately to hold of the enemy. He was a terror to behold, to them, but to Xingba, he knew this could only be fun.

"Come Ding Feng, let us go make ourselves a mess of things." With a laugh, Gan Ning swept forward into the fray with Feng shortly behind him. With the thunder of hooves they charged, the sounds of war on their lips. They smashed into the lines, like waves upon the rocks. The cries of Wei soldiers calling out in panic met his ears. Yet only his laughing answered them, his sickles slicing into their bodies, tearing through their armor.

Gan Ning, swept into the head of one man and then pointed Jormungandr, which was in his left hand, at Zhang Liao. "You! Zhang Liao! Come, it is time for you to once again face the great Gan Ning of the Bells!".

Kicking the sides of his horse he galloped after the man, pushing away Wei and Wu soldier's alike. Ding Feng watched as his companion left him to pursue the Wei general. Instead of following after, Feng focused on killing those soldiers already across the river.

On the face of Ning was only a smile, his pheasant-tailed headdress bouncing along behind him. As he got closer, he gripped his weapons in his heads, preparing for an over head swing. A roar was on his lips. He was ready for his second match with Zhang Liao...

[Zhang Liao]

'Never start a fight you know you will lose.' Once said by Sun Tzu, author of the Art of War.

What the hell did he know?

His blade flashed crimson as it sliced through flesh and bone of another poor soul. The water under his feet flowed red as bodies littered the banks of the river. Spinning to back slash through an approaching solider. The fool, splashing like a Nanman elephant to his death. There was no discipline here, no training. They were lambs to a slaughter, but duty commanded he slay them, he turn them back. And it seemed it was finally working. The carnage was becoming too much for Wu. And maybe he could cut a line for Sun Quan and cripple this army right now. He hoped where ever Li Dian was on the field of battle, he had the same idea.

It was then he heard the bells.

He had heard it once before, years before, when the fires licked the sails abouve, the decks below. They fought in the flames, the sinking ships. There was someone who could test his might, who could bring him the fight he longed for. Only his duty, his honor for his lord caused him to leave their first fight. And the soliders later that night paid the price for Zhang Liao's frustration in having to withdraw from that fight. He still carried the scars from the first encounter. But there was nothing to stop their fight this time. He would display his full might now to the world, and to the damned bells.

He spun toward the sound, deflecting a sword strike and flashing his Ji across the chest of a grunt. There, unimpeded from his view, was Gan Ning, eyes full of murder, a grin of vengeance. He wanted this rematch as badly as Zhang Liao did, and was cutting a path across the river, through the water to the opposite bank toward his rival. He allowed himself a small smile, dipping on blade into the water, the other hefted to point right at the approaching bells. This time, they would settle it.

"Come to me, Gan Ning!" He cried over the sounds of hell and carnage around him. "Come and face me! Test your might against mine, and we will see which one of us deserves to live!"

[Gan Ning]

Hearing Liao's words over the din of battle, Ning let out a short laugh. "Neither of us deserve to live, Wenyuan! But we both deserve to have some fun while we do. Haha! Ready yourself!" And his urgency to reach the man of Wei increased.

The man before him lacked the concern for his wellbeing that Xingba himself lacked. It was that neither was afraid to die. Death, after all, was pointless if it was not glorious. And while Gan Ning did like living, to die in battle would be a wondrous end to his story. But that was for another day, another conquest, here it was about what could be done to change the current tides of war.

It had been many years since fighting at Red Cliffs, and now to see this man here, ready to fight him, ready to go against him, it only added to the excitement of the battle. The rush of blood in his arms, his smile glinting madly at the sun.

He had aligned himself so that he was on the right side of Liao, as they faced against one another. On horseback, both men faced off against one another. Gan Ning's white stallion matched against Liao's own horse. Both armored up and decorated in the colors of their respective kingdoms.

As he plowed through the Wei soldiers to reach his enemy, he swung the weapon in his right hand, Leviathan, in a downward strike. The sickle part of the weapon was aimed to come down and slice into Zhang Liao's own right shoulder and neck. The blade itself was a foot in length, and the extra reach it gave Ning was about two feet or so. Yet he knew that Wenyuan would bring his own axes to bear in blocking his weapon. But the other man would need to also block the sickle part of the weapon. It was like stopping a sword that was at a right angle.

There was not much Gan Ning could do with Jormungandr, as the weapon was on his left side. So he twirled it in his hand to simply discourage any Wei soldiers from thinking of taking advantage of him. Though of course they were to busy fighting and pushing back the Wu fighters. It was strange to see that the lines seemed evenly lined up beside Zhang Liao and Gan Ning, with red to Ning's back and blue to Liao's. It was as though the dual itself would decide the outcome of the battle...

[Zhang Liao]

Clang!

The edges of their blades crashed together with full force. The sickle blocked by the axe blade rushing upward to protect him. He swung the reins around to try and bring both blades around to strike out with full force, but there was no way to duel on the back of horses. Their match would be decided with both men baring full might. Putting distance between them, he dismounted, and slapped his horse away, down the shallows of the river.

He spun, and faced his still mounted opponent. He didn't expect Gan Ning to follow any code, or honor Zhang Liao's wish to duel man to man in the shallows, but that was the way it should be. He crossed his blades as the sun beat down upon both lines. There was no interference, only these two, and this ford.

"Get off your horse Gan Ning. Face me here and prove to me your worth!"

He would let the pirate lash out first, he would wait to see what the rogue had to offer him, and he would show this army what true might really was.

[Gan Ning]

The sight of sparks at the weapons met between them alit Gan Ning's eyes. He looked over and saw the hard edge in Liao's eyes as he returned his own glare at Ning. Xingba, though, still had the stupid smile on his face, his teeth poking out from behind his lips as he snarled his lips. A light laughter escaped from the pirate's mouth.

He pulled his own weapon back, preparing for a counter attack, as he saw Wenyuan tense up. Yet he was stunned as Liao retreated a bit. Just before Xingba could give chase, though, Liao dismount. Slapping his horse away, the general of Wei looked at him. He placed his blades in a cross pattern before his chest and ordered Ning off his horse to engage in "fair" combat. Ning laughed slightly at this.

He pointed Leviathan at Liao. "Ha, funny, Wenyuan, that a man of Wei would give a man of Wu a command. I take it you are to inept of a cavalry man to fight on horse back. Are your skills so miss placed that you can only fight on foot? I would be amused to think how you'd fight on a ship and the waves. Would you not have your footing there either?" His scornful laughter filled the area as men looked on.

Wheeling his horse back a little ways, he lined himself up for Liao and let off a charge. As he got closer he twisted himself so that he brought his left leg up over the saddle and the head of the horse. He then twisted off the saddle, but with the full weight of his weapons, arms, and inertia in his swing. He brought both weapons to bare on the form before him.

He knew Liao would block this attack, and he was already planning on where his footing would be for the next attack...

[Zhang Liao]

This is what a true fight was, this is what Zhang Liao had been waiting for. He felt his blood rising, his adrenaline pumping, standing face to face with his opponent. He wanted nothing more than to cut this man down, but only after he brought the pirate to his limits, to see what he was truly made of.

Wenyuan anticipated the leap, taking a hop-skip back as Xingba struck open air, landing in the shallows where he stood before. Zhang Liao was smiling now. Allowing youth the show his inexperience, he expertly spun his weapons in his hand, setting his feet in just a few feet from his opponent.

"Always be wary of your footing in any location, novice!"

Suddenly he kicked out at Gan Ning, raising up a long spalsh of water directly at the face of his opponent, then slashing out with both axes through it, directly at the face and upper chest of the warrior before him, keeping alert with all senses. This was a true fight to the death now.

[Gan Ning]

'Ha, as anticipated.' Gan Ning thought as the other man dodged backwards out of his swing. So while his blades hit only open air, Ning was already deciding where he was going to land. He caught one foot on the muck of the riverbed and used that momentum to spin him to face Liao. The other man had set himself firmly and looked at the pirate with disdain and contempt. This did little to faze Gan Ning, even when the strange insult was thrown at him as though he had not already planned ahead of were he was going.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I can't tell if you're blind or stupid." Gan Ning shrugged his shoulders. Though it was really no surprise that this general of Wei would think everyone else was incompetent, they loved to hide their own inadequacies behind bluster and arrogance. This man was no different. So as it was, after Ning had finished speaking that Liao kicked muddy and bloody water Xingba's way.

He knew an attack was planned, and launched himself forward. He brought both weapons to the side, twisting Jormungandr diagonal to his body so that it caught Zhang Liao's right weapon, and pushed it out. Leviathan he brought parallel to his body, and that blocked the weapon that had been aimed for his head.

"Any veteran of any battle would have noticed that I had already planned where I was going." He spoke, while holding the two weapons to the side. He then lashed out with his right foot, in an attempt to catch Zhang Liao in the chest.

He then hopped back a little ways and looked at Liao. "But I suppose a common soldier such as yourself is to focused on himself to pay attention to others. Don't worry, I hear much of Wei is that way." As he spoke these words, his playful smile seemed to only amplify his amusement about the other warrior. Twirling one of his blades in his hands he charged the other warrior.

With Jormungandr in his left hand, he brought that to the right side of his body and started to swing it back left again, so that it would slice across Wenyuan's chest. With Leviathan, as he was half way through his swing with his left handed weapon, he brought down in an overhead swing. Water splashed up around his boots, and mud caked around them.

[Zhang Liao]

The clang was deafening. Bringing the left axe up to block the over head swing, the right rushing to stand firm against his chest, the 4 blades cashed together, their impact cause a small shockwave as the might of both warriors was displayed. Zhang Liao gritted his teeth, locking weapons once again with the belled pirate. Setting his feet into the water, he pushed back to separate the two. At this close range, their weapons were destined to continue to lock up with one another, and this wasn't a stalemate he wanted to be apart of.

He was only half listening to what Gan Ning was saying. Almost everything he said was a waste of breath anyway. No doubt his was trying to get Zhang Liao to rise to the bait, to lose focus. Most fools used this tactic to make up for their lack of skill. Xingba used it because he loved to be a pain. Zhang Liao didn't match his demeanor when they dueled on those burning ships, he wouldn't now. There was nothing that he needed to say, his blades would do the speaking for him.

He gripped the handles of his weapons tighter. He heard a splashing to his left, and easily swung out, cutting down some foolish solider who tried to end this battle right there. He keep the blade in his other hand ready, ever taking an eye off his opponent. Let him think all he wants, this fight would be decided here and now.

He dipped his bloodied blade into the water quickly, then the other blade, and flicked them both up as he rushed back to engage his foe, the drops hanging in the air as he rushed, swinging his left against Gan Ning.

[Gan Ning]

// occ: Anth and I have discussed hits before hand, and have accepted a limited amount of God Modding on our part. Don't try this at home without first consulting your doctor

The vibration from the meeting of the weapon sent shock waves through Xingba's hands. He could see the steel in Zhang Liao's eyes as he came to blows with his rival. The man found him, Gan Ning, detestable, that was clear. Yet Xingba thought he could see a certain respect in the other warrior's eyes. As though he knew not to take Gan Ning for granted. The same was true of Ning, he knew the warrior that was Zhang Liao was to never be underestimated. That was always a foolish endeavor.

So as their weapon's met in combat, Gan Ning was careful to keep a close eye on how Zhang Liao reacted to him. Keeping him carefully away from gaining any sort of advantage on him. The two pushed away from one another, in an attempt to take a few more careful placed swings at one another. As Zhang Liao backed away, he took a swing at one of the Wu soldiers who foolishly got to close to him. The blood slowly mingled with the crimson flood that was already in the riverbed.

The mighty warrior of Wei looked at the pirate from Wu, a seed of destruction in his eyes. Gan Ning would not let Zhang Liao get away once again, not like he did at Red Cliffs. It would end here, it had to.

Zhang Liao took the moments pause and cut it short, charging at Gan Ning. He made no real motion or plan with his weapon, on how he was going to cut into Gan Ning, it was just a swing from his left weapon, in an attempt to land a blow against Gan Ning.

The elusive pirate ducked under the blow, and caught the next one with Jormungandr. He used the weapon to push the blade down, and to his left. This left an opening for Gan Ning to hit Zhang Liao. Yet he did not have the room he wish he had. So he drove his free weapon, Leviathan, up at Liao's face.

The other man was able to twist his head, getting it out of the way of a clean hit. Yet he did not come away clean, a new cut now appeared on his left cheek. Droplets of blood descended down his face. It would leave a mark, for sure, something to remember Ning by.

By that time, Gan Ning knew that Liao would have reverse the momentum of his left weapon and would be bringing it to bear upon him, so he rolled back, disengaging from Wenyuan. He had not been allowed to press the advantage. Yet he drawn first blood.

"So, it would appear I get to see your blood once again. Haha, come, in time I am sure mine will be mixing with yours. Come, Wenyuan, let's get this over with." He laughed as he charged at the man once again. As he charged at him, he lifted up off the ground a little. Spinning on his left foot, he attack Liao with his right weapon followed by his left.

[Zhang Liao]

He could feel the blow coming, the soft rush of wind toward his head as the blows deflected and the damned blade he used came at him. His adrenaline raged on, he could see the blade approaching him at slow motion. There was not enough time to move out of the way, not enough time to fully dodge it. He jerked his head to the side as the blade approached him.

He remembered the first time a man cut him. The rush to his head the the blade carved into his flesh. It was sheer agony. But he remembered what he heard, after that battle. 'Pain,' Gao Shun had said, 'reminds us we are still alive!' As this blade cut into the side of his face, he surely began to feel alive. It was a small gash, but definetely a fresh scar to his collection. He lashed back out, not expecting to hit anything, but knowing it will give him some breathing room.

The blood began to run down his face, a crimson line cutting across the side of his face, drops falling into the water as he looked up, back at his opponent, a slight red mist clouding his vision as Gan Ning began talking again. Words meant nothing now. Zhang Liao just tightened his grip on the blades as he waited. Sharks followed blood, he would strike again.

Sure enough, Xingba rushed forward, feet splashing in the shallows as he charged Wenyuan openly, boldly. He leapt up from the water, swinging both weapons downward upon Zhang Liao, seeking to spill more blood...

CLANG! CLANG!

The blades rang out as they hit the axe head and pole of Zhang Liao's lifted left weapon. The shark was baited. He acted fast, deftly swinging his other weapon up, water splashed against Xingba's flank as the right axe caught him on his armored ribcage. With no protection, a shattered ribcage would have been Zhang Liao's reward. He would have to settle for whatever damage that blow caused as he pushed Gan Ning back, now moving to the offensive, axe blades whirling like a hurricane.

"Witness my might, Gan Ning!"