Post by Zhuge Cheng on Nov 11, 2009 21:51:30 GMT
The skies above were unrecognizable from below. The dark, gray clouds had eaten what was left of the sunlight. The darker shades threatened a storm, yet they were far and few in between. The air was humid, bringing on a scent of oncoming rain. Like it or not, all below would eventually have to face the incoming storm.
Meters away from the city Shou Chun on the wide grassy steps was nothing but a battalion of men standing in lines and colonies, fully armed with swords and shields, every one of them looking at a single man in front of them.
Suddenly, a small part of the sun reappeared on the skies and the array of the sunlight pointed at the general's face. Zhuge Cheng didn't care for the weather, for he would finish this one training session at all costs and it would be here and now, not any time later.
Looking back to the direction of the city he distantly thought of his next actions. He needed status now... he needed to be in a position to control the chaos, not embrace it as he had been. This country was too big to control entirely, all Cheng could hope was that he would do his job right, he would try to drill these men into valiant soldiers who would give their lives for their families and home.
Slowly, Zhuge Cheng turned around to survey the rest of the world around him. The mountains that surrounded them were unpredictable just as time itself was... same as the valleys and the forests, the rivers and the swamps.... He felt as if he could see all of the land, but in fact, he only saw a small portion. It was large.. defending all those territories would be much harder than to conquer them.
At that thought, the horse beside Cheng snorted. In an instant he was brought back to the reality. He faced forward, glancing at the horizon for a moment. Life.... Death... it all meant nothing in the end. Moments later, he gripped the sword in his hand and rose it toward the sun. He felt a strong gust hitting his back, as if urging him forward. His sword glinted, encouraging him to urge forward....
"Soldiers of Wu. We all know why we are here so let's not get too talky here. We do our job and that's it."
Then, just like the Heavens waited for the speech, a loud thunder roared through the steps with the soldiers looking up, some starting to whisper between each other.
Zhuge Cheng seeing that he has to hurry shouted loudly so that the earth shook, thrusting his sword in the air in full speed. "One, two, three, four!!! Hwah!!" Cheng was thrusting and swinging his sword around with the soldiers following his moves.
One of the soldiers though didn't move, he seemed nervous, his face looking very young. After a few exhausting moves Cheng stopped to address the lad.
"What is it sol...", Cheng was interrupted by the same man that refused to train, "The day is close when Wu is gonna fall. The mighty kingdom of Wei will slaughter us all!!" On the lad's face the rage was clearly showing itself, utter silence on the training field. All awaited for the reaction of Zhuge Cheng.
Zhuge Cheng on the matter, chuckled. He simply chuckled. This guy was on the wrong end of the kingdom. "Of course they are going to slaughter us if we display a morale such as this, fool! A man who does not fight for what he believes in is not a man of worth."
The young man calmed himself down and started to train with the rest even harder then some others. Zhuge Cheng was content with the results of the training and on dusk, they left.
Meters away from the city Shou Chun on the wide grassy steps was nothing but a battalion of men standing in lines and colonies, fully armed with swords and shields, every one of them looking at a single man in front of them.
Suddenly, a small part of the sun reappeared on the skies and the array of the sunlight pointed at the general's face. Zhuge Cheng didn't care for the weather, for he would finish this one training session at all costs and it would be here and now, not any time later.
Looking back to the direction of the city he distantly thought of his next actions. He needed status now... he needed to be in a position to control the chaos, not embrace it as he had been. This country was too big to control entirely, all Cheng could hope was that he would do his job right, he would try to drill these men into valiant soldiers who would give their lives for their families and home.
Slowly, Zhuge Cheng turned around to survey the rest of the world around him. The mountains that surrounded them were unpredictable just as time itself was... same as the valleys and the forests, the rivers and the swamps.... He felt as if he could see all of the land, but in fact, he only saw a small portion. It was large.. defending all those territories would be much harder than to conquer them.
At that thought, the horse beside Cheng snorted. In an instant he was brought back to the reality. He faced forward, glancing at the horizon for a moment. Life.... Death... it all meant nothing in the end. Moments later, he gripped the sword in his hand and rose it toward the sun. He felt a strong gust hitting his back, as if urging him forward. His sword glinted, encouraging him to urge forward....
"Soldiers of Wu. We all know why we are here so let's not get too talky here. We do our job and that's it."
Then, just like the Heavens waited for the speech, a loud thunder roared through the steps with the soldiers looking up, some starting to whisper between each other.
Zhuge Cheng seeing that he has to hurry shouted loudly so that the earth shook, thrusting his sword in the air in full speed. "One, two, three, four!!! Hwah!!" Cheng was thrusting and swinging his sword around with the soldiers following his moves.
One of the soldiers though didn't move, he seemed nervous, his face looking very young. After a few exhausting moves Cheng stopped to address the lad.
"What is it sol...", Cheng was interrupted by the same man that refused to train, "The day is close when Wu is gonna fall. The mighty kingdom of Wei will slaughter us all!!" On the lad's face the rage was clearly showing itself, utter silence on the training field. All awaited for the reaction of Zhuge Cheng.
Zhuge Cheng on the matter, chuckled. He simply chuckled. This guy was on the wrong end of the kingdom. "Of course they are going to slaughter us if we display a morale such as this, fool! A man who does not fight for what he believes in is not a man of worth."
The young man calmed himself down and started to train with the rest even harder then some others. Zhuge Cheng was content with the results of the training and on dusk, they left.
