03/50: In the name of Justice!!
Title: In the name of Justice!! (03: beliefs)
Characters: Peasant Militia; Ma Chao (vs Lu Xun).
Rating: PG for battle; 760w
Notes: Set during the defence of Bai Di castle scenario (DW5), when Ma Chao is essentially your last boss because Liu Chan is a generic? :D Unrequited Peasant→Ma Chao raburabu, because lol. Also, abused in-game quotes. ♥ You are a peasant. Your job is to die.
The general shouts his men a rousing challenge and you realise with a shock that he's just like you-no older certainly-but his high voice, barely broken, pierces sharp like an eagle's cry in the evening sun. His dual blades flash again and again, but he moves so fast the blood barely seems to stain his coat tails. He's dismounted but nobody dares approach his horse, and red flags surround though you can't read the character on them. It's something complicated and he's shouting orders as he fights, messengers coming and going. Maybe he's important...
You almost laugh. If nothing else, he'll be the one to kill you.
You'll be dead before dusk. What chance do you have? Where can you run? This is your home, and if you flee you'll have nothing and they'll take it all unopposed. But the general is unstoppable. Nobody has barred his way so far, not even your best of friends, that cocky, headstrong boy you grew up beside and tilled the ground with and sparred against until sunset-he won every time-who made the call to arms in the first place. Barely a second sees him cut down like so much long grass, pushed aside like a broken toy. Your heart splinters again, fear sealing your feet to the ground and your tongue to your mouth heedless of desires to run, stand, fight, scream, take revenge.
You can't. You know you're next.
The general looks at you-through you. You're nothing. Not a challenge, not a threat. In his eyes you can see hundreds, thousands of souls, and a cold calculation: how many more? Tightly, you grip your hoe like it might become a spear if you will it, the weight of its shaft at once familiar and foreign; your arms barely raise before the general leaps up and knocks it aside. A kick to the chest you didn't see coming winds you soundly, takes you out.
Sprawled on the packed dirt, dazed, a shadow falls over your face and you wonder what demonic silhouette your desperation has conjured up until the sun catches upon its gilt armour. Your breath escapes like a prayer. "General Ma..." The decorated spear and white warhorse are the stuff of legends retold, but the enemy's attention is taken like a moth to flame and proves the apparition real.
The white steed rears up, throwing its head, and startled awake you quickly roll lest it trample you. But Ma Chao has jumped down before you can even scramble to your feet. Grabbing your arm, he hauls you up with an iron strength and you stare at the strong set of his jaw, its lines of rigid determination as he turns fiery eyes upon the enemy. "So... Wu would attack even the innocent." His voice rumbles like a ready storm; his body, his presence a shield as he steps forth and the others gather by your side. Wu's soldiers retreat as well, behind theirs.
"You're okay?" someone asks beside you, hushed-a neighbour. Heart still drumming in your ears, you nod mutely. Another whispers, "We're saved!" and hope darts through your crazy, irrational thoughts, lifting your eyes to the broad back of Ma Chao the Splendid standing almost a full span above anyone else, his golden helm proudly raised. You'd like to take him home after this, you think, gift him with rice and dumplings and pots of grape wine. Introduce him to your mother, lead him through your village to show him in gratitude what he has defended. Thank him properly.
But the other general's too-cultured tones send shudders of reality back down your spine. "Shall we settle this between us?"
Ma Chao growls again, casting out the point of his steel-tipped weapon: "My spear will make you pay for your injustice!"
"There is no justice in war," comes the reply. "I believe in victory for the sake of peace."
"Neither my heart nor my spear will ever surrender!"
The other general nods as if expecting no less. "One warrior worth a thousand. I shall not underestimate you." His swords spit red flecks as he shifts them in his grasp, and you take a step back, several steps, when the two warriors begin to pace silent rounds and circle like death. The aura surrounding them is almost palpably destructive, prohibitive like a silent, raging fire. It presses upon your heart until suddenly the enemy general stops. Smiles. And the fires freeze, chilling the blood in your veins.
"Come then!" Ma Chao roars against the challenge, his voice rousing your spirits, and you raise a battle cry for your champion, friends and infantrymen alike joining the call. "The spear of Ma Chao shall bring an end to the chaos!"
Characters: Peasant Militia; Ma Chao (vs Lu Xun).
Rating: PG for battle; 760w
Notes: Set during the defence of Bai Di castle scenario (DW5), when Ma Chao is essentially your last boss because Liu Chan is a generic? :D Unrequited Peasant→Ma Chao raburabu, because lol. Also, abused in-game quotes. ♥ You are a peasant. Your job is to die.
The general shouts his men a rousing challenge and you realise with a shock that he's just like you-no older certainly-but his high voice, barely broken, pierces sharp like an eagle's cry in the evening sun. His dual blades flash again and again, but he moves so fast the blood barely seems to stain his coat tails. He's dismounted but nobody dares approach his horse, and red flags surround though you can't read the character on them. It's something complicated and he's shouting orders as he fights, messengers coming and going. Maybe he's important...
You almost laugh. If nothing else, he'll be the one to kill you.
You'll be dead before dusk. What chance do you have? Where can you run? This is your home, and if you flee you'll have nothing and they'll take it all unopposed. But the general is unstoppable. Nobody has barred his way so far, not even your best of friends, that cocky, headstrong boy you grew up beside and tilled the ground with and sparred against until sunset-he won every time-who made the call to arms in the first place. Barely a second sees him cut down like so much long grass, pushed aside like a broken toy. Your heart splinters again, fear sealing your feet to the ground and your tongue to your mouth heedless of desires to run, stand, fight, scream, take revenge.
You can't. You know you're next.
The general looks at you-through you. You're nothing. Not a challenge, not a threat. In his eyes you can see hundreds, thousands of souls, and a cold calculation: how many more? Tightly, you grip your hoe like it might become a spear if you will it, the weight of its shaft at once familiar and foreign; your arms barely raise before the general leaps up and knocks it aside. A kick to the chest you didn't see coming winds you soundly, takes you out.
Sprawled on the packed dirt, dazed, a shadow falls over your face and you wonder what demonic silhouette your desperation has conjured up until the sun catches upon its gilt armour. Your breath escapes like a prayer. "General Ma..." The decorated spear and white warhorse are the stuff of legends retold, but the enemy's attention is taken like a moth to flame and proves the apparition real.
The white steed rears up, throwing its head, and startled awake you quickly roll lest it trample you. But Ma Chao has jumped down before you can even scramble to your feet. Grabbing your arm, he hauls you up with an iron strength and you stare at the strong set of his jaw, its lines of rigid determination as he turns fiery eyes upon the enemy. "So... Wu would attack even the innocent." His voice rumbles like a ready storm; his body, his presence a shield as he steps forth and the others gather by your side. Wu's soldiers retreat as well, behind theirs.
"You're okay?" someone asks beside you, hushed-a neighbour. Heart still drumming in your ears, you nod mutely. Another whispers, "We're saved!" and hope darts through your crazy, irrational thoughts, lifting your eyes to the broad back of Ma Chao the Splendid standing almost a full span above anyone else, his golden helm proudly raised. You'd like to take him home after this, you think, gift him with rice and dumplings and pots of grape wine. Introduce him to your mother, lead him through your village to show him in gratitude what he has defended. Thank him properly.
But the other general's too-cultured tones send shudders of reality back down your spine. "Shall we settle this between us?"
Ma Chao growls again, casting out the point of his steel-tipped weapon: "My spear will make you pay for your injustice!"
"There is no justice in war," comes the reply. "I believe in victory for the sake of peace."
"Neither my heart nor my spear will ever surrender!"
The other general nods as if expecting no less. "One warrior worth a thousand. I shall not underestimate you." His swords spit red flecks as he shifts them in his grasp, and you take a step back, several steps, when the two warriors begin to pace silent rounds and circle like death. The aura surrounding them is almost palpably destructive, prohibitive like a silent, raging fire. It presses upon your heart until suddenly the enemy general stops. Smiles. And the fires freeze, chilling the blood in your veins.
"Come then!" Ma Chao roars against the challenge, his voice rousing your spirits, and you raise a battle cry for your champion, friends and infantrymen alike joining the call. "The spear of Ma Chao shall bring an end to the chaos!"