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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:42 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:39 pm
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:04 pm
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:29 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:45 pm
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Musashi watched her with his intense eyes as she spoke to the guard. He could barely hear her, but not enough to make out any of the words. He figured she was telling him to keep on his guard, which was completely understandable. Musashi himself had to keep on his guard for he didn't know what these people thought of him. After all Date did attack them randomly and that would make them be weary of all foreigners. Cai came down and invited him in. "Oh, yes, I think I heard you say your name before, but I don't think I understood it when you said it. Forgive me, Lady Xing Cai. Your language is not easy to understand at first." He said, struggling a little with the words still, but managing to get out his thoughts.
He followed her into the city and looked around. This city looked different from the cities in Japan, but there were certain aspects of it that reminded him of home. "So I see you were attacked by Date... That fool of a kid rushed right into battle without checking your rhythms first. If you would like, I will help clean up as payment for your kindness, unless you don't need my help."
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:41 pm
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:07 am
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:32 am
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"Just be sure not to get too close to the areas that look like they're dangerous or if there are a lot of soldiers there. Other than that, please make yourself as comfortable as possible." Xing cai answered Musashi with a small smile. So Date wasn't exactly a child, he was just... very, very short. Sixteen was young, but Cai had to admit that she wasn't that much older than sixteen herself. She smiled to herself as this thought past through her mind. She was still young and had quite a while to go until she could consider herself a true officer of Shu. For now, she was just a soldier. Cai wondered how many years she would have ahead until she would know that she was a powerful warrior. She wanted to make her father proud. And she would. She would be certain of that.
"You'll have to excuse me, I need to resume the duties that I was entrusted with." Cai gave a bow of respect before walking back outside and over to where she'd been at last. She wouldn't risk setting her shield and fork down, instead Cai strapped them on her back so they would be in easy reach for her to grab. She went back to where she'd been at last and carried over some of the needed materials before looking around the city. It was getting dark and the soldiers would need light to see what they were doing. For now, they would stop. To make a careless mistake could cost them all dearly, and Cai didn't want anything bad to happen when everything was underneath her careful watch.
"Stop!" Xing Cai yelled out, catching the soldiers attention and making them stop and look back at her. "It's time to rest! We'll resume tomorrow! Head back to your bunks or begin your watch duty!" Next Cai ordered the gaurds to light the lanterns and close the gates. It was time for the city to sleep. Now Cai stood on top of one of the gates, watching the land carefully as the last part of the sun slipped into the horizon.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:10 pm
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Musashi nodded, smiled, and said "Thank you for your kindness." He bowed and entered the room he had been given. He set his large bag down and looked around. It was a small room with little more than a bed, a table, and a night stand, along with a lantern and several candles. Humbled by this room Musashi spotted a key on the table, "Hmm... must be the key for the door. At least I can have my privacy." He took the key and exited the room, turned the key and locked the door behind him. He began to walk around, tucking the key into a pocket on the inside of his robes. The castle was pretty elaborate with its decorations, impressive for a land that was supposed to be full of primative hethens as the rumors had stated. He came to a staircase that lead to the top of a tall tower. He climbed the stairs and looked out a window. Out the window he could see Xiao Pei, though he didn't know the name of the city he knew that it would be his next destination. He could also see the battlefield where Date had lost. He could clearly see that whoever slaughtered the troops came in from the south east and left toward the city in the distance. This only made him want to head that way even more.
He climbed down the staircase and exited the castle into the city. People were busy scurrying about as the sun was setting, trying to clean the streets up from the day's business. Many people looked at him and gave him strange looks, they could tell he was one of the foreigners. He would have tried to speak to them but no one would let him near them. One woman glared at him with a look of scorn. She had blood all over her blouse and behind her lay a young man who had been shot by one of Date's muskets. He couldn't blame her for hating him for he knew that hate was a part of war and ignorance leads to more hate. Instead of dwelling on this he continued his walk. Suddenly he spotted a man running out of a merchant's shop, carrying a bag that was most likely full of coins. The merchant chased after him yelling out, "Hey, wait! Thief!" Musashi grinned, this would be a good opportunity for him to repay Xing Cai for her kindness. He chased after the thief, placing his hand on the scabbard of his katana. With amazing speed he caught up to the thief and pulled the sword from it's sheathe, shoving the end of the hilt into the man's back, just left of the spine underneath the ribcage. The man fell down and dropped the bag of coins on the street. He looked up at Musashi as he struggled to get up.
Fire burned in the thief's eyes as he stood up, "What's the big idea, tough guy? Don't you have any manners?" He stood up and reached for a straight sword he had on his back and pulled it out, ready for a fight. Musashi spoke slowly to the man in Chinese, "You do not want to fight me..." He said. The man cocked his head and said, "You talk funny, stranger, let me help you by cutting out your tongue!" He slashed down toward Musashi's shoulder, but Musashi easily side stepped it, keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword. He spoke up in Japanese, this time faster, "You do not understand, a fight with me is a fight to the death!" The thief looked at him with wide eyes, realizing that he was a foreigner. His face became furrowed and he became enraged, "You b*****d! Your people killed my brother! I can never forgive you!" He rushed Musashi, cutting horizontally several times, Musashi stepping back each time waiting for the right moment. The man leapt forward, cutting the air from a downward position toward Musashi's face. Musashi leaned back and immediately slung his sword forward our of its sheathe, cutting horizontally toward the man's arms, just below the elbow. His arms fell to the ground and the man began screaming as blood shot out at alarming speeds. He dropped to his knees and looked up to the night sky, "Brother, I will be with you soon..." said the thief, just before Musashi made a second horisontal slash, cutting his head clean off as an act of mercy. He shook the blood from his blade, wiped off the excess, then put it back in it's sheathe and looked around. The merchant ran up and grabbed his bag of money and ran off with nothing said, not even a thank you.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:27 pm
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Cai had just been thinking that things would finally settle down when a gaurd ran up to her. He was saying that the foreigner was attacking a civilian. Cai frowned before quickly asking where this was happening and then left her place from the wall and ran down the streets with her shield and fork equipped. It didn't take long for her to reach her destination. She could also tell from how frightened the people were. Most of them moved out of her way while others called her name out. What in the world was happening? Were these foreigners really so dishonorable that they would do something like this? She couldn't judge too quickly, but she couldn't be slow in her action either.
When Xing Cai arrived she saw the very last of the scene: The beheading, and a man running out and grabbing his bag and then going back inside. Now she suddenly understood better: The man that had been attacked must have been a thief, and Musashi had been stopping him. However to those who would observe less, this was not how it would seem. The people around were all either staring at him or running away. When they saw her they seemed to calm but also remained frightened. Cai couldn't blame them. In their eyes, after all, she was just a young girl. Not a real warrior.
'I told the gaurds to watch him.' Cai thought to herself sternly as she slowed her pace and walked up to Musashi with a calm air around her. 'Do these still not respect me enough to at least look after a man that I asked them to watch?'
"Come with me." Xing Cai stated, and this time instead of it as some sort of kind gesture she said it as an order. She looked over at the gaurds and ordered them to pick the body up and then told the people to calm down and hurry home. Then she looked over at Musashi and walked back to where their rooms were. Once in the hall she stopped and turned around and looked him strait in the eyes.
"I must ask you about your actions." Cai told Musashi firmly. She'd promised her uncle that nothing bad would happen. She'd broken her promise. Cai never broke promises. "You appear to me as a good man. I can sense that there is honor in your soul. The man that you attacked appeared to be a thief, am I correct? If I am then I must ask why you killed him. The customs here are not the same as they are in your country. While I can see why you did what you did, killing someone like that in public is going to make the civilians here fear and hate you. The rules and customs here are not the same as they are in your land, you must understand this. You must forgive me if I sound rude pressing you like this. I just want you to understand the difference between our lands. A man with a heart like yours does not deserve to be killed for doing something that you believe is honorable."
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:01 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:36 pm
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Guan Xing and Zhou Cang returned to Xia Pi with not more than a thousand men, all volunteers from the north. They were on a mission to recruit and train volunteers soldiers a bit north of Xia Pi when they heard of the attacks the castle. They left the training up to one of their subordinate officers, with commands to return as soon as he saw them fit to fight. They took the others who they saw were fit themselves and left.
They arrived at the castle and the gates opened for them as the guards recognized who they were. Zhou Cang and Guan Xing rode in to see the damage on the city from the attack.
"They used fire," noted Zhou Cang. Guan Xing nodded in recognition.
They came to a captain who greeted them. "Lord Zhou Cang, Lord Guan Xing we are glad to see you have returned safely. We are glad to say that we managed to repel the attackers, but still sustained some damage."
Guan Xing nodded as he looked around and then back to the captain. "You all did well," he said. "Is my father around?"
The captain shook his head. "No my lord, he has gone back Xiao Pei with the Wu general Gan Ning."
Guan Xing cocked his head a little at the name of Gan Ning, but thought no more less of curiosity of it. They were allies, and he'd have to trust Gan Ning. Not that he was afraid that Gan Ning would hurt anyone, it was just awkward to find out he was here and not know about it himself. He straightened his head and looked back at the captain.
"So who is in charge of the castle?" he asked.
"Lady Cai my lord," the captain responded.
Zhou Cang and Guan Xing looked at eachother with shocked expressions. "You mean to tell me," Guan Xing said. "That... oh well, nevermind." He laid off the topic, Xing Cai was no normal woman, she was the daughter of Zhang Fei and inherited some of his strength. "So where is Lady Cai?" he asked.
"Last I heard, she went to meet someone at the gate. She disappeared after that," the captain said with another bow. Probably a bow of apology for his ignorance, though either one did not blame him or anyone.
"That is fine," Guan Xing said. "If you ever see her, tell her Guan Xing and Zhou Cang have arrived with reinforcements, though not many," he added in undertone. "We will be going to our quarters until then, is there barracks enough for these troops?" he asked.
The captain nodded gravely. "Sadly, yes. We have more than enough."
Guan Xing knew what he meant, but did not take it too much to heart. It was only expected after a battle. He and Zhou Cang rode off to go to their quarters to rest for a little while. They had not much rest after hearing the attack, only to arrive late. Nonetheless, they have arrived incase of another attack.
((He killed a regent officer. But because the regent was dishonorable and stole from the people. So in a way, he was a thief...))
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:58 am
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||I luff Filipino. gonk heart He defeated my writer's block! But now... I'm stuck in Xia Pei.... Ugh crap....||
"It would be wrong of me to throw you out of the city during the night when the roads are dangerous." Cai told Musashi as she shook her head after she'd heard his words. "I could not cast someone out after they did something that they believe was for the better good in their heart. Please rest here. When you decide to leave is up to you. You'll have to excuse me now, I must return to the duties that were entrusted to me."
With a polite bow Xing Cai turned away and walked down the hall, releasing a sigh that she hadn't realized that she'd been containing once she was far enough not to be heard by the foreign visitor. It was stressful doing this, but Cai wouldn't allow that to get in her way. While she had had a killing happen while she was protecting Xia Pi, running away would not do anything. No, she was going to stay and deal with the problem just as any mature adult would. As she sorted out her thoughts Cai stepped out when she saw a gaurd running up to her. He bowed down and said this: "Lady Xing Cai, Lord Guan Xing and Zhou Cang have arrived in the city and are currently resting along with their troops in the barracks."
They had come? Why now? They must tried to come to help. Why else had they come with troops? Or perhaps they had come to bring more men to restore the troops that had been lost. Either way, she would see them now before they fell asleep to be sure that they hadn't had any trouble on their journey coming here. She thanked the gaurd and then left to find the two officers. It didn't take long for her to find where her cousin and Zhou Cang were resting, however it didn't appear as if they were there yet. Just as she turned around she saw Zhou Cang and Guan Xing riding up on their horses.
"I hope that your journey was an easy one." Cai smiled as she turned to face the two men more fully. "You missed your father Guan Xing, I'm sorry to say. He left a few hours ago, and for now I am in charge of taking care of Xia Pi for now."
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:15 pm
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