Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 2080270" data-attributes="member: 15043">Reacquaintance, and a New MissionThe Prince’s announcement was greeted with cheers and applause from the gathered generals and scholars, with one exception Felonca alone noticed.When he rose, Quan-Shi clapped as the others, but Felonca knew him well enough to see there was no pleasure or joy in his eyes.  Indeed, there was an emotion she had never seen in those steely black depths before.Fear.For several minutes Prince Hu acknowledged the offering of praise granted to him, before graciously waving his hand, calling for quiet.  When the noise had died down, he turned back to Felonca.“Now, my brave Wa-Feng,” he said, letting the suppressed smile come through, “Where perchance did you come across this information?  I would be most interested in meeting this person, to discover all the possible details of this development.”“Um...” Felonca stuttered momentarily, before quickly saying, “I cannot comment on who my source is, as they are afraid for their life should their name get out.”  She sighed slightly in relief when she realized she hadn’t used any revealing pronouns.Once again, for just a second, a look of frustration came over the Prince’s face, before his self-control smoothly covered the emotion with a bland smile, and a nod.“Very well,” he said, his voice reflecting a cool disposition towards the rogue.  He turned towards the gathered audience.  “There is nothing more to be discussed today.  You are all dismissed, save you Quan-Shi, and you, my friends,” he gestured to the party, his eyes not reflecting the warmth of the endearing term.With some trepidation, Felonca watched all the other scholars and generals file out, and her old teacher march forward, his silver helm held underneath his arm.  What do I say to him? she thought, confused.  Hello?  I’m sorry I ran away?  I don’t know... so much has changed since he taught me archery!  She’d never planned for this, to see the one person that had treated her like a person at the Academy, not some piece of meat to be molded into a military shape.“Greetings, Master,” she said nervously, giving a slight, trembling bow.  She expected a steely eyed look, or a reply of sharp disdain.  Dishonor is what I have brought, to myself, my family, and the Academy... she thought quietly, until she mustered the courage to end her bow, and look to her former Master.His dark eyes reflected curiosity instead of anger, even a slight bit of fear.  Very quietly, his same nasally voice whispered to her.“Is it true?” he said, voice filled with concern, and even a slight amount of awe.Instantly Felonca knew what he referred to, and forced herself to not look down to her boot, where the dagger still lay hidden.  The dagger... how do they know?  Unless...The White Wolves! she realized, as Prince Hu produced a map from the sleeve of his armor.“General, my friends,” the prince spoke, causing Felonca to shudder.  There is nothing friendly about his intentions!  I tried to tell Nayu!“I have set before you a mission I wish you to accomplish.  The province of Dai lies to our southeast, and is rich in both people, gold, and land.”  The prince gave a sigh, and Felonca’s now-trained eye saw clearly through the facade.  “Sadly, the governor of Dai is a corrupt man, inclined to his harem and pet bodyguards instead of caring for his people.  He is widely hated by the populace, and they suffer Heaven’s wrath due to his inattention and neglect.”  The prince straightened his shoulders, as if puffing himself up.  “It is time for us to act, and save these people!”You mean bring them into your fold, Hu Shikai, Felonca’s mind rumbled, but she managed to keep her thoughts hidden.  One last mission... and then we can head south, away from the Military Governor, away from Prince Hu, away from the Dowager Empress...“General Quan-Shi, We are giving you one of Our field armies... 40,000 troops, evenly divided between horse and foot.  You are charged with invading the province of Dai, and ridding them of their corrupt ruler and bringing them into Our enlightened fold.”  His eyes started to turn towards the party.  “Such a move will not only save these people from destruction, but also make Our claims to the throne stronger.  Do not fail Us in this endeavor.”Felonca watched, expecting a prompt salute from her Master at his orders.  Instead, she saw the salute was slightly delayed, even reluctant.  She looked into his eyes, and read something she didn’t expect.Mistrust.“As for you, my friends,” he immediately dropped the use of the formal ‘we,’ “I wish to ask if you would be willing to do this one last thing for me, for suitable recompense, I assure you.  I have heard many things of your powers, Wakabayashi Nayu, and of your skill in combat, Wa-Feng Felonca.  I can assure you that your skills would go far in assisting General Quan-Shi, and would not go unappreciated.”For a second, she looked at Nayu, and saw many of the same questions running in his soul.  Do we trust him? Soon after, she saw his eyes harden, as they always did when the sorcerer made a decision.  “We will assist you in any way we can, Excellency,” Nayu spoke, even as Felonca could see his eyes were judging, weighing his opposite carefully.“Excellent!” the prince clapped his hands together, the mirth in his eyes covering something darker that Felonca could only just see.  “I am sure Quan-Shi would find you useful as scouts, keeping the army abreast of developments!”“Meiji and Yari Ai are about as useful as scouts as my foot is in scratching my back,” Nayu whispered a few moments later, and Felonca nodded at the sentence directly only to her.  As the group of five, now with Quan-Shi in tow, left the throne room, she caught Nayu glancing back, as if judging distance.  Quickly, a hushed question came to his lips.“Can Quan-Shi be trusted?”“Yes,” Felonca replied, without hesitation.  She remembered the weasel hengeyokai that had taught her how to use a bow, that had taught her self defense, that had both shielded her from some of the more abusive students, while letting her get bloodied enough that she learned to fight back.  In short... the man that was almost her father for the ten years she was at the Academy... her father even when she felt her own father hated her.  No doubt, he can be trusted!Nayu gave a grunt, glanced out of the corner of his eye back towards the weasel, and gave a terse nod.  He trusted her, and her trust in this other man.No sooner had the party left the audience hall and the grand doors closed behind them, than Quan-Shi pushed to the front of the group, grabbing Felonca by the shoulder and spinning her around.  The rogue’s heart sank, as she expected a sudden, vicious lecture now that the prince was no longer present.  Instead, she saw the same look in his eyes... concern, fear, confusion.“Is it true?” he asked simply.  “I must know.  I know you could not say so in front of the prince, but I must know!”  Should I tell him?  The questions that ran through Felonca’s mind were not whether Quan-Shi could be trusted, but whether he’d be put into danger if she told him the truth.  If something happened to him because of the secret she held...“It is, Master,” she said quietly, looking towards the ground, praying she hadn’t damned the man who’d cared for her the previous ten years.  When she had the courage to look briefly back up at him, she saw sadness, and concern, and felt arms wrapping around her protectively.“Then keep it safe, Felonca.  Do that for me!” he whispered.  The hug was brief, but its comfort was endless, and the rogue found herself pushing back the urge to break down.  With a sigh, she composed herself, as Quan-Shi straightened himself, now looking every inch the general that his plumed helm said he was.“Well... it seems you are under my command for now,” his eyes swept the party, before returning to Felonca.  “I assume since these people travel with you, that they are competent in combat, Miss Wa-Feng?  That any deficiencies they may have had you have already corrected?”“Yes, Master,” Felonca straightened herself, the call of the old parade ground returning.  Back straight, eyes level with the general!  “Master Wakabayashi is gifted in magic, Mistress Ai is gifted with both healing and the blade, while Master Wa-Feng is my cousin... also gifted with the blade,” she added, lying about Meiji’s ability.  No reason to make Master excessively worried... and Meiji is useful for some things I doubt an old warrior would understand...“Very well.  Your orders are as follows.  You will form a special scouting group, reporting to me and no other.  But I wish you to be more ‘trouble-shooters’ than scouts.  Ride ahead of the army, and any small issues you can deal with... errant villagers, angry prefects, take care of them.  Anything bigger, ride back and report to me.  Understood?”Old instincts returned, and Felonca immediately snapped a crisp salute in return, far more in line with military protocol than the lackadaisical salutes Nayu and Yari Ai gave, or Meiji’s almost criminal ignorance of the soldier.“Yes sir!”“There is another task for you as well,” Quan-Shi’s eyes still surveyed the group, then stopped on Meiji.  The dark stare caused even the bard to snap straight with a little fear.  “Prince Hu has a letter he wishes delivered to a certain Master Ling Wei, who lives in a village south of the capital of Dai, Xiangfung.  It is of the utmost importance.  Ling is a former adviser to the governor, and a truly gifted and virtuous scholar.  The Prince feels his counsel would be extremely useful in the coming days.  If he agrees, bring him back to the army, and we’ll arrange his safe travel to Mingzhong.  Understood?”“Yes sir!”  Another crisp salute, as Felonca could almost hear the morning drums calling everyone to drill.  For a few more seconds, the general’s eyes returned the same precise, military sharp look, before they changed back to those of a Master judging his student.“Good then.  I am glad to see you haven’t lost all that I’ve trained you in, Felonca,” the general smiled slightly.“I have not, Ma... I mean, sir!” she quickly corrected herself for the new relationship between her and Quan-Shi.“Very well.  Please accompany me, I shall escort you all to the palace gates.  You shall have two days in Mingzhong to prepare, before I want you to leave.  That’ll give you time to stay ahead of the army, and properly do your-  yes?”His string of orders stopped on seeing Felonca’s face.  Inside, the rogue was still troubled, confused as to how someone so honorable, so virtuous as Quan-Shi would be serving someone that increasingly appeared to be as two-faced and... well... slimely as Prince Hu.  Finally, she couldn’t help herself, and blurted out her question in a tone quiet enough that only Quan-Shi and the party could hear.“Master... I mean Sir... do you...um... do you trust Prince Hu?”The general’s easy gait suddenly stopped, and the same look of concern came into his eyes.  Their beady dark forms darted about for a second, before he pulled Felonca close, his voice a whispery hiss.“No.  I am not sure that I can,” the general whispered, his eyes continually watching for someone trying to eavesdrop, to peek in.  Why is he so afraid? Felonca wondered.  This is the Quan-Shi that slew twenty Kara Kitai raiders while camping alone north of the Desert Wall!  The Quan-Shi that supposedly beat even Master Hsiu himself in hand to hand combat!  What would he be afraid of...“Six days ago, as you may know, a raiding force from the Prince of Shu came close to Mingzhong.  Hao Tong was the scout for that army... two thousand heavy cavalry, under the command of General Aso... a formidable man.”  The general’s voice grew even more quiet, and to Felonca’s alarm, even took on a slight tremble.  “I rode out with the Prince, at the head of 500 cavalry.  We fully expected to be slaughtered, to die attempting to defend the city...”“...but we didn’t.  The Prince rode to the top of a hill, and instructed us to wait behind him.  As Aso rode back and forth, mocking the Prince and his small force, I saw His Excellency raise his hands to the skies, and the clouds darkened.  Then...” his voice failed him for a minute, before it regained its strength, “then it happened!”“What?”  What has made Master Quan-Shi so afraid of this prince?  This boy that’s at most twenty years old!“The clouds... they began to rain fire, Felonca!  Fire from Heaven! Fires that smothered the army of Shu in flames!”“Fire from heaven?” Nayu asked, his own eyebrow arched.  Felonca could see his mind working, desperately trying to figure out what power was invoked.  “What shape was the fire in?  Was it balls of fire, like a fireball?  Flaming rocks from heaven?”The general was almost shaking now, his recollection tumbling out as he ignored the sorcerer’s questions.  “Then, he called forth a great wind, fanning the flames so that Shu’s army was surrounded on all sides by great sheets of fire!  Then lightning bolts arced down, amongst the trapped soldiers!  Then, it began to hail, a great shaft of hail, covering the burning ground till it was white, crushing those who had not burned to death!”  He stopped for a moment, trying to compose himself.“Such power is not of this world,” he said softly a few moments later.  “No scholar I have heard of could do such things!  Destroy an entire army of two thousand in the space of a minute!  All he did to do this was stretch forth his hand!”  Felonca could see the soldier in Quan-Shi imagining the horrible, terrifying pain his enemies went through that day, and that he felt, in some ways, the terror they felt during their last moments of life, surrounded by flame, pelted by hail and fleeing titanic bolts of lightning.Felonca gave a visible shudder, terrible images coming to her mind.  The dagger falling into Prince Hu Shikai’s hands, blood rising from the land in a crimson tide, lightning arcing through the air, fire falling from Heaven...Keep it safe, Felonca!  Keep it safe!</blockquote>

Verification