Zhao Yun ~ Flashback ~ Changban ~ (Shu/Wei) Canon

[Zhao Yun]

MUSIC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Exodus

Liu Bei was still suffering from the shock and disgrace of Liu Cong's surrender to Cao Cao. It seemed Liu Biao's sucessor had no spine even though the likes of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were at his disposal. Not only that, the Jing forces had a capable navy which was something Wei lacked. To simply hand it all over to Cao Cao without a fight, increasing his strength dramatically, was unbelievable to Liu Bei. He wondered if Liu Cong had any idea of what he had truly done. The blood of countless innocents, which were his people but a day ago, could be on his hands as well. Many of them left Xiang Yang when Cong submitted to Wei and decided to follow Liu Bei. Any way it was looked at, in Bei's mind, it mattered little now that their chances were gone.

Zhao Yun was splitting his time between watching the somber Liu Bei and listening to Zhang Fei rant about the situation. Others may have found his relentless insults annoying, but Yun found it funny and comforting. Fei's deep and raspy voice, calling out every enemy he could think of, calmed Yun from his troubling thoughts. In the back of his mind, he hoped that Cao Cao would not give chase. Guan Yu had departed with boats down the river, to eventually meet back up with them, and that left only Fei and Yun to protect their lord as well as nearly 100,000 civilians. With them were 5,000-10,000 soldiers, if that.

The large mass of people moved slowly toward Changban. It was at that time that Zhao Yun's worst fears came true. Screams could be heard coming from the rear and a sense of panic quickly overtook the civilians.

"Sir, a huge cloud of dust!"

One of the soldiers pointed out what looked like an army giving chase and it was approaching rapidly. Zhao Yun urged his horse toward the rear of the column. He squinted due to the sun, but he was able to discern the enemy unit type and banners.

"Enemy cavalry!"

Zhao Yun looked to Zhang Fei, who had also moved to the rear to see what was happening, and the latter quickly ordered everyone to make haste.

"Move! Now!" he barked, whipping his famed spear around and then pointing it southward.

Liu Bei did not want to leave anyone behind, but he had no choice. If he was caught, there was no doubt that Cao Cao would kill him. He rode ahead with Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and others. Zhang Fei was itching for a fight, but he too had to fall back. In all of the commotion, Zhao Yun's position was lost. Fei looked for him, but to no avail.

Wei elite cavalry, numbering roughly 5,000 strong, were gaining ground and would soon be upon the vulnerable civilians.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Location: Bridge

Liu Bei and company had arrived at a bridge. When they halted to catch their breath, and look back, he then realized his infant son along with his wife had been left behind. His two sisters were still with the people as well, though unknown to him Cao Chun of Wei had already captured them. His wife and child were still unharmed and free, but for how long. To make the situation worse, Xu Shu asked him if he could be excused from the conflict. Shu's mother had been captured as well and he feared for her life. Liu Bei, being the virtuous and kind man that he was, let him go.

"Good luck, Xuande, I hope to see you again someday," Shu said, with a tear forming in his eye. He turned and moved north toward the Wei lines.

A soldier then approached Liu Bei and told him that Zhao Yun was missing. Bei looked to Zhang Fei who nodded that it was true.

"Do you think that he....?" the soldier said. The comment made Liu Bei's eyes jolt open with anger.

It was an honest question though, considering how many times generals would switch allegiance between lords. However, the bond between Liu Bei and Zhao Yun was beyond simply lord and vassal.

"Zilong would never desert me!"

Liu Bei pushed the thought from his mind and Zhang Fei pushed the foolish soldier away from them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Location: Rear

The Shu soldiers trying to guard the rear were being decimated by Wei's elite riders. The civilians were not safe either and the trail of corpses, including women and children, were proof of the enemy's contempt.

A Wei soldier had a few women in front of him, frightened and on the ground. He was questioning them to find Liu Bei's location.

"Where is he? Tell me you whor......"

The soldier did not get to finish what he was saying. He was cut down from behind and standing there was none other that Zhao Yun.

"Quickly, you must flee!" he yelled, pointing south toward the rest who were running for their lives. He then turned to face the enemy.

Wei's elite cavalry group was only the vanguard and in the distance he could discern the entire main force under Cao Cao himself. Zhao Yun remounted his steed and urged it toward the enemy elite cavalry. He rode this way and that, leaving a wake of death in his path. Many soldiers tested their skill against his, but none could overtake him. It was at that point the first general of Wei appeared. Yun figured that the famed Xiahou Dun was present among the enemy cavalry, but his new foe was not the One-Eyed Demon.

"Zhao Yun! Do not flee! Xiahou En is here to take your head!"

The Shu general turned to face him, but he cared not for introductions this time. He set his spear and rode straight at En. The two engaged and soon after En fell from the saddle. He was beaten in one bout with Zhao Yun and the Wei soldiers who witnessed it all backed away. To Yun's surprise, En was carrying Cao Cao's weapon, the Sword of Light. He reached over and took it from En's horse. Unfortunatley, there was no time to enjoy the sword's brilliance. A woman could be heard screaming and, when he turned to look, he realized it was Liu Bei's wife and child. They were near a well and were surrounded by four Wei soldiers.

Zhao Yun rode hard towards Liu Bei's loved ones and destroyed each enemy, one by one, before dismounting.

"My lady, are you injured? The child?"

Lady Mi told him that they were fine. She then begged him to take the child so that he may live. Zhao Yun agreed and took the young Liu Shan. Before he could react, the lady threw herself into the well. She did not want to slow him down. Zhao Yun lowered his head for a moment. He wished that she could have been saved, but her selfless act was necessary. He could not have saved them both. It was much easier to maneuver with a small child rather than a grown woman.

His time of mourning was cut short by more enemies approaching. He grabbed some clothing off one of the fallen and wrapped it, with the child inside, around his torso. Then, he remounted his horse and returned to the fight.

Zhao Yun was surrounded by Wei's elite van of riders and, in the distance, Cao Cao's mightly host could be seen. The blue banners of Wei engulfed the landscape and it was a most intimidating sight. However, he was not afraid.

"Hya!" he yelled, urging his steed towards the direction where the least amount of enemies were.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Location: Wei Front

Cao Cao, with his strategists, moved to a hill overlooking the battlefield. He was pleased to see many Shu soldiers strewn across the ground. However, he also noticed the unexpected amount of fallen Wei soldiers as well. It was then that one of his advisors spoke up.

"There! Look, my lord! A single rider in white!"

The leader of Wei, a man not easily impressed, was beside himself. His entire army could not stop one man. Zhao Yun weaved in and out of his lines, defeating all who would dared to challenge him. Hundreds, no thousands, of enemy soldiers were after him. It was then that Cao Cao noticed the weapon that was ripping his army to pieces. It was his sword, the Sword of Light. He gasped again in awe of Zhao Yun's prowess, not even angered that his prized blade was in the enemy's hands.



"Who is that warrior?" Cao asked.

"That is Zhao Yun of Changsha, my lord."

Cao Cao ordered him to be taken alive with hopes that he would defect. Unfortunately, he was not aware of Zhao Yun's loyalty. The Dragon of Shu would never defect.

[Zhang Fei]

It had been four days of fleeing, fleeing with their tails between their legs. The brute that was Zhang Fei was not pelased by that prospect, he'd have much prefered to have stayed behind with what forces they had, with Guan Yu and Zhao Yun and tore the enemy army to pieces at Xinye, or met them at the river crossing and threw them back in the damned thing.

The sun was high in the sky and the day was growing warm, and with it Yide was starting to feel the rays of that fireball in the sky, he was sweating before he had so much as raised his spear. Damn flying fireball! The past few days had been hectic, it started with a steady ride on what boats Liu Bei had under his command, he ferried his people graduall over the river toward Xiangyang, putting a river between him and Cao Cao pursuing forces, fat load of good that did. Liu Bei had bypassed Xiangyang after a painfully long ceremony at the former Imperial Protector of Jingzhou Liu Biao's grave site beyond the walls. Then they were on their way again, a colossal mass of commoners making their way to Xiakou, irritatingly slow of pace.

The commoners that were tagging along outnumbered Liu Bei's armed forces ten-to-one, if Cao Cao's advance forces caught up the most casualties would be the common people, there simply was not enough soldiers for Cao Cao's men to play with. And then it happened.

Cao Cao's forces could be seen drawing close in the distance, a huge dust storm heralded their arrival, a huge force of elite cavalry. Surveying the scene with Zhao Yun fromt he rear lines, Yide had pushed Liu Bei to continue on his way at all speed, they had pushed the men to new extremes in panic, the march quickly becames disorganised, even more so with the disappearance of Zhao Yun. Cao Cao's cavalry would soon be on top of them, Zhang Fei mustered what soldiers he could find, fifteen-hundred infantry and five-hundred cavalry; the rest were so badly scattered around the mess that was the fleeing mass that he couldn't be bothered summoning them, two-thousand was enough to bide his lord brother some time.

He led his men to the rear of the march, parting the peasants like a hot knife travelling through a huge block of butter as they fled around the miniscule force in comparison to the horde of civilians. The hostile cavalry were almost upon them, "Cavalry with me," horns sounded as the cavalry formed up ahead of the infantry, Yide barked in his haste, "Quickly!" His horsemen formed up and broke off from the infantry which kept moving to keep up.

Zhang Fei could see on the horizon the signs of fighting, probably those civilians that thought to flee in different directions and the soldiers who would fight to defend them. This particular unit of enemy cavalry was obviously hell bent on taking Liu Bei, planning to plunge into the rear of the main refugee host. Yide hoped that the fear of Zhao Yun's defection had no substance, and he was fighting up ahead, if he was indeed still alive even, Zhao Zilong was anything if not a formidable foe, he would not believe he was dead, nor would he distrust the man in matters of loyalty. He refused to.

As his thoughts raced, he drew closer to the enemy cavalry, snapping out of his day dream, he shifted to reality, holding his spear outwards. The speed was incredible and the incoming collision was goning to be quite nasty, crunch. His men's horses crashed into the enemies in a head-to-head charge, the sound of steel meeting steel began, but it was drowned out by the whining of the beasts of burden they rode to war.

Yide had avoided a collision, despite being at the head of the charge. He stuck out like a sore thumb, among the soldiery. His long snake-headed lance, a bright-red turban, and bare arms of pure muscle. This was Zhang Fei in the prime of his life. He angled his horse between the first two enemy riders he met, and swung his spear out horizontally from his left with a deep growl, levelling the two of them on approach, leaving to unmanned horses to proceed on.

As he and his men plunged deeper into the ranks of the enemy (as did the Cao horsemen) he swung left and right, tagging an enemy rider in the hip there, and slashing at another's face there. He laughed maniacally with the energy of battle, being overcome with his favourite kind of adrenaline. The enemy horsemen who made it out of the over side of his own men, which they would, being vastly superior in number and skill to their Shu counterparts, they would run into the mass of infantry following the Shu riders.

By the time Zhang Fei had reached the exit, and came out of the ass-end of the Wei charge, his spearhead was dripping with blood, and he had a large number of stains over his clothes and body. "Woooooo!" He shouted with enthusiasm before swinging his horse around, "Back in boys!" The mass of his supporting cast had been cut down in the charge, but he had numbers enough to not attempt an estimate, they all swung their horse's heads around and proceeded to resound the horns. To the beating of hooves once more Zhang Fei laughed his way into the rear ranks of the foe's cavalry.

[Zhao Yun]

Back to Back

MUSIC

Zhao Yun had sheathed the Sword of Light and switched to his spear. The enemies were getting too close and the coutless scratches on his leg guards were the proof. At least the spear would keep them at a distance. He grabbed the butt end of the weapon and twirled it around over his head. The Wei soldiers jumped back when the gleaming tip of pointedness almost sliced their faces off.

It was then that Zhao Yun sensed a change around him. It was subtle at first, but it soon became more apparent. The enemy soldiers were like deer that could feel a tiger approaching in the long grass. Suddenly, Yun heard a loud roar from behind him. He cut down another Wei soldier and then turned to look. In the distance, a lone rider rushed towards his position. The enemy ranks were splitting right down the middle, partly due to being trampled and also out of fear. The rider was like a juggernaught; unstoppable.

Zhao Yun was not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him due to fatigue. He focused on the rider and noticed a burly beard, massive muscular arms, a serpent spear, and a smile. The rider was Zhang Fei.

The sight of his ally and a possible way out, from his current hell, renewed his fighting spirit. He urged his steed towards Zhang Fei, cutting a bloody path through the crowd. In the distance, behind Fei, Shu troops could be seen coming to assist. Driven by either bravery or madness, the approach of allied soldiers, who knew the odds of death were high, lifted Yun even further.

He was now only yards away from Zhang Fei, but a spear thrust at his steed caused it to raise up on its rear legs. Yun was tossed from the saddle and Liu Shan fell out from his robes. Before the baby hit the ground, Zhang Fei grabbed him. The infant looked like a grape in his monstrous hands.

"Yide, am I glad to see you!"

Zhang Fei nodded and said that he had returned because, not only was Yun a valuable asset of Shu, but he also could not bear to see Liu Bei so worried. He told Yun that he had a plan, so he raised Liu Shan up and cocked his arm back. He let the infant fly and it soared through the air, in a perfect spiral mind you, and right into the arms of a Shu soldier.

"Touchdown!" he yelled, but when he looked to Zhao Yun there was a blank expression on his face. Not only was Yun still in shock by what he just saw, but he also didn't know what a touchdown was. The soldier who caught Liu Shan quickly turned to flee. He was guarded by others as they made their way back to the bridge and to Liu Bei. That left Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun on their own as the alley closed up from where Fei came.

Both generals were dismounted and they cut down multiple enemies before being forced back to back. They were surrounded by an ocean of Wei soldiers, but none could best them. Using each other for leverage, they struck outward like a double headed dragon. Two enemies, standing close to one antoher, were cut in twain by a single stroke of Zhang Fei's serpent spear. The blood spray covered the faces of other Wei soldiers and they pissed themselves in fear. Any and all who approached were sent to the afterlife.

[Zhang Fei]

MUSIC

Slamming into the rear of the Wei cavalry was exhilerating, the feeling of power and control as they tore them apart. "Man! I wish the others were here! Eat that!" He whacked a Wei rider in the dome with the ass-end of his spear, he was sent rolling out of his saddle, lost under the hooves of the horses, "Hahahaha!" The slaughter continued.

The Wei forces were finding it exceptionally difficult to contend with the Shu riders who were following them, it was hard to turn and fight with a spear when you had a charging enemy behind you, driving you forward into a mass of infantry. Death before, and behind, the prospect made Zhang fei very gleeful, as he filled a Wei soldiers helmet with his own blood - and the tip of his spear.

What was the forward enemy unit was nearly decimated, at least those that Yide had been fighting, the odd few remained, he left them for the infantry to whom he yelled, "Hold the line, defend the people!" He turned his own horse again, "Cavalry, again with me! We're going to hit a few more of them!" He spurred his spurred his steed forward again and galloped towards the enemy position.

Zhang Fei had not realised Cao Cao's main host had drew so close, so quickly. Fuck me, that's alotta guys. It'll take a year to hack through that many bodies...I might need a new weapon after it. Nonetheless, he charged, he kill a few of them, that was certain. His horse found a clump of Wei foot soldiers, and Yide took liberties in leading it into them, bulldozing over the lot of them, slashing and jabbing at those he couldn't run down, with his lance.

A lone general in silver was fighting the Cao troops on foot, Zhang Fei rode up to the man and dismounted, knocking an enemy soldier's nose into the back of his skull as he did so. Another got a whack across his chest with the business end of Yide's spear that sent him sprawling backwards. There was a baby on the ground, Yide instantly knew, by instinct. The young master. He took the infant in his right hand, passing his weapon over to his left. His cavalry had kept pace, and the enemy were moving to reform around them. He hailed one of his riders, and hurled Ah Dou at the man, the baby caught some serious air and spiralled, Yide never knew if the young lad was giggling or throwing up, but he heard something as he soared through the air. The horseman caught him, "Touchdown!" Throwing his arms up in the air in celebration Zhang laughed happily, "Get him back to our lord, quickly, don't worry about us. We'll be fine here." The column turned, taking Yide's steed with them, and galloped off the way they had came.

"Zilong!" Yide addressed his fellow general from high above, the man was still on the ground, he held out a massive hand, and hauled Zhao Yun up to his feet. Yide brushed away at the cloak on Zhao's shoulders, "Now that baby's gonna need a wash!" He was obviously talking about the cwhite cloak, but the irony was that Liu Shan would probably need a wash too, there was probably a good load of brown under that bundle, a fierce smell waiting to greet the embrace of Liu Bei. Yide giggled to himself, like a schoolgirl at the thought.

"I hope you're not too worn out now Zilong, taking a nap on the job. We've got a lot of fans here wanting some attention!" As the two were gathering their bearings, the Wei army had been creeping up around them like a blue tide around a small island, but the island was occupied by two fierce men, two talents of the time, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei. These two men excelled in violence, whether or not these Wei punks knew what was about to happen or not, it was about to become quite apparent, "You ready?"

Without so much as waiting for a response, Yide's serpent headed spear struck out, and opened a man's neck, he fell in silence, a bloody fountain spraying out of the wound. Yide looked back at Zhao Yun, and nodding, smiling broadly, "Good, right?" He laughed, but it soon died down as the Wei men drew closer. Zhao and Zhang moved back to back. "You know Zilong, it's times like this when true feeling come out, I'm not feeling that particular urge to spill my heart out to you before we get raped by all these northerners. But, man, I love ya bro."

His famed serpent spear raised up and came crashing down into the Wei line, shattering the guard of four men who promptly lost their lives with a slash of red that trailed along the lot of them, "Connect four bitches! You got that Zilong? I don't even know what the fuck it means! Hahahaha, but I love it!"

Yide began to set about his enemies, keeping a horizontal defence up, equal to what Zhao Yun was handelling on the other side. "You liking what you seeing Cao boys? Huh? Bow before ya true king! Bow before Zhang Fei of Yan, ya shits!" Yide's spear swung here and there about him, knocking blows back and forth with the enemy soldiery, like a display of symmetry Zilong and Yide both were laying waste to either flank, corpses started to pile up, "At this rate Zilong, we'll be able to run and jump! Feel like going for a swim in enemy lines?"

Laughing uproarously, he ran up a mount of about four bodies high and dived shoulder first with a mighty crash and laugh. Parting the tide of blue, he shook their round formation and started tearing shit up, at one point he stunnered someone, a kick in the groin here and there, his spearplay was getting reckelss rather than disciplined, as he violently lashed out around him with terrible screams of excitement. As he flayed about himself the horde seemed to back down.

[Zhao Yun]

10,000 Men

Zhao Yun was probably on the edge of collapse. He could not remember the last time he ate or drank, but the adrenalin pumping rapidly through his body kept him going. The kill count was forgotten long ago and the piles of dead bodies were making it hard to move. Zhang Fei, though, was still fresh with energy like a young child. A 350 pound, 14 foot spear wielding, 6 foot tall, bearded beast of a child. He laughed and joked while slaughtering countless Wei soldiers.

Zhao Yun turned from watching one of Zhang Fei's moves, after the latter specifically told him to watch, and then cut down two enemies on his own. He scanned the area quickly, for an exit, while parrying an attack. Looking back to his comrade, he called out what he thought was a possible way out.

"Yide! We must..."

His words were cut short because Zhang Fei was not where he just was a moment ago. Yun's eyes searched and finally Fei came into view from above. Jumping into the air, off of a pile of corpses, Fei flew through the air like a graceful bird and then crashed down on top of multiple enemies. The ground trembled from the attack and the poor Wei soldiers were pancaked beneath his massive body. Again, Fei looked to Yun to see if he approved of the move.

"Unreal," Yun said, which caused Zhang Fei to scowl and rant. He thought Yun was saying that his overinduldgence in combat was unacceptable. However, that was not what was meant.

"Unreal, meaning the legend. You truly are a warrior worth 10,000."

Zhang Fei apologized for getting mad and the two placed their hands on one another's shoulders. It was a moment of brotherhood, of respect. However, when Zhao Yun slid his eyes to either the left or right, a wall of blue could be seen. In their moment of man love, they did not realize the enemy encircling them. Well, closer than they already were.

"Not good," Yun said, still with his arm on his pal. He made an awkward smile, as in they were fucked. But then, he had an idea. Quickly, he began to spin and lower at the same time. He only hoped that Zhang Fei would be paying a attention and jump up to avoid the strike. Zhao Yun brought he spear around while still lowering in his spin. He sliced the lower legs of all the surrounding soldiers until he got to where Fei was standing. Like an ancient chinese car running into the great wall, the spear was stopped dead by Fei's tree trunk legs.

"Oh," Fei said, realizing that he was supposed to jump.

Zhao Yun's eyes shot open and he looked up. Zhang Fei was standing there, looking down with a dumb expression, but then he smiled. He helped Yun up again and they went back to back once more. They really needed to escape, so there was no options left. They had to cut a path out and to freedom.

"Yide, muster all of your remaining strength and follow me!"

Zhao Yun took his dragon spear, cocked it back, and let rip into the enemy lines. The weapon impaled four soldiers like a Wei shishkabob, or however you spell that, and that was opening they needed. He unsheathed the Sword of Light and everyone stopped for a moment to enjoy its magnificence. Yun used that moment of awe struckness to slice the throats of two enemies. He kicked others out of the way and started cutting people down like blades of grass. He looked back to Yide who was destroying people and he called out to him.

"Pick up my spear on the way by! That is expensive!" he said, thrusting the sword right through someone's face.

The two blazed a trail through the enemy. If only Guan Yu had been present as well, they could have taken out the entire Wei army. Instead, that beautiful bearded bitch was enjoying the sun and sailing down the river. If there was wine on that ship and they were drinking, Zhang Fei would be seriously pissed. At least, there better be some left.

[Zhang Fei]

MUSIC

Among the ranks of the soldiers, Zhang Fei plowed apart their formation, destroying the neat and tidy ranks of the Wei army that had chose two fight these two generals of Liu Bei. The flat side of Yide's spear was dealing wind-depriving blows to the chests of the northern host, "Take that! And that! And this!" Every now and then amid his sequence of spear slaps, Yide would spare a man unlucky enough to be behind the line of his spear a groin shot, that brought one of those poor men to their knees.

Yide cut and burrowed a path back towards his initial position, hurling himself over the wall of corpses he had so recently stage-dived over. "You saying something Zilong? These lot are a little loud," he bounded back into the defensive ring they had created with their fallen foe. Zhang jabbed out and back in with his serpent lance holding the fort against more advancing soldiers, they weren't letting up for anything. One man's sword slashed Zhang's arm lightly, drawing a line of blood, Yide's eyes widened as he noticed, "Fucking.....FUCK!" He swung his spear at the end, like a two-handed mallet and flattened the unfortunate soldier under the weight of a mighty overhand blow to his crown.

The two warriors came close again and Zilong and Yide, shared a moment, embracing one another commenting on the situation, "I disagree Zilong, I think this is a moment that will go down in the history books, best make the best of it. I plan on living, to tell some children I hope to have about it one day. Does Zilong not wanna be a pappy too? Have a little Zhao fucking shit up?"

The enemy soldiers started to pour over the makeshift wall of limp bodies, and Zhao Yun had a plan, Yide did too, but it was far less sophisticated. Zhao spun on the spot shooting his spear out in a broad sweep at the ankles of the enemy soldiers who were just finding new ground on their side of the mound. Yide didn't react quick enough, or catch on to what the hell Zilong was playing at until it was too late. Zhao's spear hit a wall of it's own mid swing against Yide's leg, "My bad!" Yide turned his back to Zilong, and laid into those his spear couldn't get because he was in the way. His leg hurt, "Ouch, watch where you're swinging that thing! You trying to cripple me bro?"

Yide helped Zilong back to his feet quickly; his plan now came into play, a plan which seemed to rely heavily on simply continuing to whack enemy soldiers. He had a good sweat going on, but as the battle raged Zhang just got more and more into it. One particular soldier thought he had what it takes, and tried to sneak up on Yide's right flank, but received a satisfying slap of the man's boot to his face, "Super kick, woo!"

Zhao Yun amde it apparent he wanted to break out and leave nothing more to chance, there was no way these two men could slay the entire Wei host by themselves. Plus, the wine was with Liu Bei, and there was more in Xiakou. Yide jumped over to Zilong's side and pointed heroically south, "To the winestore, Robin!"

Zilong seemed to grasp his meaning, his agreement that was - his agreement to escape. Zhao hurled his spear like a javelin, forming a line of pierced Wei troops. Zilong unsheathed his new sword and flashed it, Yide ruined the awe-filled moment, "HEY, are you implying I'm getting tired?!" He lashed out in frustration at a brave soldier who had probably been pushed to the front by his buddies, taking the man's arm off with his lash-like spearplay. "Does I look fucking tired? I'm just getting started!"

Zilong started carving a path out of the encirclement, parting the sea of foes with his sword like a corn field. "Y'know Zilong, I'll do you a favour, I'll get you your spear, but I'm not gonna be your bitch when we get back to big brother!" Yide ran past the human shishkebab and yanked out Zhao's spear, clutching at the base of the spearhead that was sticking out of the last man's back. Taking his own spear, and Zilong's over his right shoulder, he followed in Zilong's wake, as he carved a path, every now and then using the pair of spears together as one to block an enemy shot at him; but most were too awe-struck by the heroic display of the two men to draw close for a challenge.

"I wonder what Cao Cao is thinking! The old bastard." Yide dealt a left armed clothesline to an approaching soldier, sending him head over heels onto the ground. His blood was starting to rise, here he was among all these enemies and he was playing the baggage man, "Fuck, Zilong!" He cried out in frustration, "Take ya damned spear back!" He threw Zhao his spear back, which he caught. Bringing his own spear into both hands again he started laying waste to pursuers. Pursuers who had been nagging at his heels with their weapons for five damnable minutes. "Back off assholes!"

"We're gonna have to crack open some of the good wine when we get back man!"

[Zhao Yun]

Blinding Light

Zhao Yun took his spear from Zhang Fei and cut down an enemy soldier. He quickly scanned the battlefield and noticed the stragglers from Shu in the distance. They were approaching the bridge where Liu Bei had been.

"Yide! We must hurry!"

Zhang Fei yelled out that Zhao Yun was more bossy than Liu Bei and then he sliced the heads off of four Wei soldiers in a row. Fei kept yelling out something about connecting four, but Yun did not know what the hell he was talking about.

"That is the fifth time you have said that," Yun said, thrusting his spear through the nether regions of an enemy. In the back of his mind it was bothering him that Zhang Fei thought him bossy. The fact they were surrounded by countless enemies seemed to be of lesser concern.

"Do you really think I am bossy?"

The two warriors sliced their way towards the bridge and Cao Cao's mighty host gave chase. Some remaining Shu soldiers were doing what they could to fight off the enemy, but Wei's numerical advantage was superior. Civilian men who had picked up weapons were also trying to defend, but they were getting raped.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei finally arrived at the bridge. Soldiers had to hold Fei back because he was still thirsty for Wei blood. Yun on the other hand was showing off the Sword of Light to some civilians.

"Watch this, if I hold it up it gleams like the sun" he said, raising the blade to the heavens.

Oohs and aahs followed his display as glorious light radiated from the blade. The people were awestruck, but also seemed to be in pain.

"Fuck, my eyes feel like they are melting!" one of the people said. They had been looking directly into the sun a few inches to the side of the blade. One or two of them stumbled and fell over the bridge into the river.

"Here, go that way, you will be fine," Zhao Yun said, looking around nervously to see if anyone noticed what had happened. He had told a soldier to help the blind civilians over the bridge to safety.

All of the remaining Shu soldiers crossed the bridge and it left only the two famed warriors to defend. With the two together, fighting back to back as they did before, the enemy would never cross that bridge. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei had bonded during their fun time. Both men prepared to give battle and looked to one another before back to the enemy. Fei then looked back to Yun and he was gone.

"Good luck, Yide! Give them hell!" he said, retreating over the bridge to safety. He continued to yell words of encouragement across the river to provide support for his friend. Then, he disappeared to drink some delicious wine with Liu Bei and Guan Yu.

[Zhang Fei]

It only felt like they had been charging through the mass of Wei soldiers for a few minutes, yet here they were, cutting out into the open. The light of the sky and the open ground before them was relieving, relaxing even. A weight of darkness left Zhang Fei's shoulders, as they escaped the dull blue shadow of Cao Cao's soldiers that assailed him and Zhao Yun.

As they emerged from the vast formation they came out upon the Changban bridge, planked wood, fifty-feet in length, with a perhaps twenty-five-foot drop into a fast-moving river below, a river that fed into what became the Yangtze. It hadn't been an hour ago since Zhang Fei came riding over this very bridge with his cavalry, and even now he could still see remnants of those running off in the distance.

They met up with familiar faces, soldiers that Yide had brought to the rear to defend his lord brother's people. Zhang and Zhao broke off from their pursuit and rushed headlong onto the bridge with what men were there waiting, their steps hitting the wood with exhaustive knocks. Yide stopped to catch his breath, he wasn't much of a runner, he was a rider. He could fight the majority of the day, that stuff seemed to give him energy, but when it came to running for a long period of time, his stamina just couldn't cut it. Breathing heavily, he leant forward with his weight braced on his spear, to give himself a moment of respite, while pretty boy Zhao Yun was flashing his new pretty sword to the infantry and cavalry that still remained to them, on the far end of the bridge, knocking a couple off the bridge into a free fall with it's blindingly bright steel in the sun.

Their enemies were still coming and they couldn't win in an open battle, Yide knew that, despite how much he would love to fight them off. He tried to moisten up his dry lips, and then spat. A thought struck him. "Wine!" He shouted att he men, who were drooling over Zilong's fancy sword, "Wine! Bring my horse!"

One of his cavalrymen guided forth his empty horse, "We have no wine, general." I do. "Just bring the horse," the soldier led the horse towards Zhang, who was still standing midway across the bridge. When he was close, Yide relieved his spear of his weight and went to work across the bags on his saddle looking for something. After a few moments he untied a pouch. "Start pulling up planks down there," he told the horseman, "Go. Also, make a fire!" The horseman moved back and conveyed the order.

Zhang Fei held in his hands was so powerful it could tranquilize a man half his size, a horse, and make an elephant think about where it puts its foot down ahead of time. Such a shame... He uncorked the pouch, he spoke softly and sorrowfully, "Well at least it won't go to waste..." He poured the contents in a line across the width of the bridge before him, walking along with it as he dispened the liquid. It was his birthday wine, he still had a few bowls worth of the stuff, saving it for a special occasion. It had been a gift from his big brother just a few months ago. By the time he finished drawing the line, over half of the pouch was empty and a soldier was running toward him with a flaming stick.

The loss of his powerful birthday vintage stung, but it was for a good cause, he promised himself that he would drink a keg in recompense for each drop he had spilled upon the bridge when he reached Xiakou. He resealed the wine and traded it with the soldier for the flaming stick, "Look after that, don't drink it, I'll be back for it in a few," the soldier turned away and ran back to start disassembling their side of the bridge.

He stood upon the bridge, his spear under his right arm, a burning torch in his left fist, "Zilong! Give our lord my regards! That was a great fight, hope we still have time to do it again! Make some ground, I'll hold the boys in blue off for a bit. Until next time!" If there is a next time... He tossed the flame onto the wine, a wall of fire erupted before him with a sudden wave of heat. Only the gods know what his men and Zilong were thinking on the other side. Bring on Cao Cao.

He turned away from the wall of flame, turning and walking towards the approaching enemy, riders and infantry both, a magnificent display of banners arnd martial spirit enveloping the green country. Had he not just went two-against-thousands, he might had felt something poeple call fear, he did have butterflies in his stomach and goosebumps on his arms as they came screaming forward in advance, but whether that was fear or excitement Yide could not say, he'd never been a fearful man.

Yide stood at the end of the north-end of the bridge, legs set apart his right hand fixed firmly around the pole of his serpent spear, unmoving, undaunted, tiger eyes fixed on the Wei position. Mounted generals, commanders and other officers were starting to assemble before him, but the main banner of the Wei army was not. Aww, no Mengde. Where were all these named enemies when we were fighting before?

The enemy banners stopped moving but the forward tide contnued, "Howdy boys, what can I getcha? Pork? Beef? Roast Chicken, huh?" They continued screaming, charging towards him with their war faces on, "How rude, but, I have just the thing for you all." He turned, looking at them sidelong from his left, and poked the tip of his spear into the flames, cooking it as they drew closer. He pushed it ina little further and ignited the tassel, bringing it out at the first soldier he could reach. "Take that!"

The first soldier took a bonk on the head and toppled over, giving a couple of fellows a clumsy fall on his right. Zhang went to work on the unit, some had spears, some swords, some pikes, it made no matter. Yide screamed and shouted, bellowing at his targets, and calling his moves as he nailed them one-by-one, "Sweep!" He screamed taking the legs out from under two men, "Thrust!" He stabbed one man in the chest, pushing him back into his line. "Psyche!" He slashed at one man but turned the shaft away and drilled a man's face with his shaft. He swung his spear about him, warding off the horse, and gradually whittling down their resolve, as the fiery and bloody end of his spear swung this-way-and-that like a protective ward, holding demons at bay and dropping a few.

The unit's dead totalled around twenty-one, by Zhang Fei's count, when they decided to pull back to their main line. It wasn't a big unit, likely the clots in charge thought it would be enough to see to the end of one man. They were wrong, and they just stood there looking on at the burning bridge, a wall of smoke blotting out the view to the other side. "What's wrong? Too scared to fight little ol' me?" Yide boomed with laughter, in a mocking display of falling on his hind and doing his best attempt at acting scared.

One important-looking mounted person got all riled up, and kicked his steed forward to do battle, "Finally," Yide hauled himself back up onto his feet and took a defensive stance, which consisted of brushing himself off and exaggerating a yawn. As the horseman came within ten metres of him (and the bridge) he hurled his spear like a javelin, and took the horse from under the man, it toppled over onto it's side and Zhang darted forward to reclaim his weapon. He yanked it out of the flailing animal and set it aside, by now the tassel had been consumed by fire and it's existance had ran it's course.

Yide jumped over and yanked the officer out of his saddle, he had dropped his sword and was struggling to find himself. Yide found him rather easily, and almost yanked his head from his shoulders pulling his helmet off, he drilled him with the blunt of it once, busting up the man's face. Then he set him on his feet, dragging him from the far side of the horse, and scooped him up. He carried the man onto the bridge and shouted, "Away you go!" He threw the officer over the side of the bridge. Yide heard a crunch as the man unfortunately hit the rocky wall of the raised ground on his way down, then a distant splosh as he met the water.

Brushing his hands one against the other, as he walked calmly over to his weapon, he called over to the Wei army "Next?" Taking up his spear, he waited again. When he got no answer, he raised his voice, "Next?!" Still no answer came forward. Yide tapped his food on the ground impatiently as the crackling of fire raged behind him. He lost his patience at the next awkward silence, "IS THERE NO ONE WHO DARES FIGHT ZHANG FEI OF YAN?!" No reply came again, until one officer fell from his saddle over on the Wei frontline FAAS RU MAAR! Mass confusion broke out as other men moved to check on his, gongs sounded as a general retreat was sounded. Zhang Fei laughed aloud, genuinely tickled by the actions of the Wei army. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING? DOES NOBODY LOVE ME?!" A soldier fell from his horse this time as they turned. FUS RO DAH! "Bahahahahaha!"

The Wei army slowly dissolved as they turned tail and ran. Zhang Fei watched hysterical as they ran for their lives, from one man! Just when I thought this day couldn't get any better! It does! He laughed aloud again, then turned to retreat himself since they were gone, better than he had hoped or planned. The he realised there was a fire in front of him..."Yeah, ummm, what?" He scratched his head and then shrugged, charging into it, "Geronimo!" He crashed through the flames, shielding his face with his arms and spear. He came out of the other side, spinning and turning, "Get it off me, get it off, ah! Ah!"

"General...you're not even on fire..." Zhang Fei promptly stood still, arms at his side, he looked on fiercely innocent, "...I knew that." A good few feet of the bridge had been tore up, and discarded planks could be seen below floating away down stream. Zhang hopped on over the wooden frame that remained, "Good work boys, now where's that wine of mine?" The soldier he had bestowed it upon produced himself and handed it back over. He uncorked it again. Wrestling with his senses and instincts he forced himself not to take a drink. I'll have a whole keg when we get back to big brother... He poured the remainder of the vintage across the exposed frame of the bridge. "Okay boys, pull out, we've got to get going." A fire was still burning beyodn the bridge, Yide took up the stick that was used to stir the flames, and set the bridge alight further. The men mounted up, Zhang included, and rode away, leaving the bridge burning and weakened near-collapse on their side.