ZGL;; Capricorn

[Lu Xiang]

188AD
Xinye

Nightmare

Ever been in that situation that your so inspired to do something that your veins extend; as your blood violently bubbles with ambition, your mind focuses and is only directed towards one goal and one goal only. When nothing and nobody can get you down and your on a constant high. Your fists become steel, your body super human and you exceed common averages asif they didn't even exist. Every now and again humans come around who are permitted to this talent constantly... Granted by the heavens some say - or simply required due to circumstance of their current world. In times of chaos mostly. Outshining others without even trying. A single man granted with alot of talent alone - however he didn't stop there. He worked and worked upon it. Determined; never giving in or up. Laziness was not an option, Failure was a sin. Enter Kongming..

You know that sudden rush, awaking from a dream that is cruel and unwelcoming. They call them nightmares - I call them reminders. The hot flush as you pause; awaking in a warm sweat as you look around for friends or enemies - either being good to understand you still alive and awake. But there is nobody, you all alone which extends your paranoia to a whole new depth.

...When you try to breath, but only enrich yourself in hypothermia. When the walls close in around you, when everything in the room becomes your demons. Insomnia? Not at all.

I was once like you, considering myself a mortal and sinking to such pathetic lows. Becoming consumed by emotion and fear. But hence, the rebirth of myself. No longer do I attached myself with emotions.

I am lucid, I am neither awake nor asleep. Neither alive nor dead. I accept my destiny because I write it.

You try to sleep again, but everything around you secludes - Your senses outreach their human capabilities and even the thistles outside swaying it enough to keep you up all night. Everyone experiences fear, if not in the real world - then why not the dream world?

I am sleep, I am the dragon. I am the man who can willingly inspire you into a world of pain, suffering and misery. I'm not ritualist, shaman or magician. No. I am a man, much like yourself; but so much more.

This isn't a story about the real world, nor the dream world. Infact I am being just misleading. This is the tale of a man as his seperation from himself. Becoming something unstoppable for his lord. For duty and for honour. No longer is my life my own, merely a trinket in which I devote my life towards my lord and my land. I pledge my knowledgable ability for the future of China.

I am Zhuge Liang.

[Lu Xiang]

The Natives

Zhuge Liang awoke; visions were common to him. He had dreamed ever since he was a child. Often predicting things of elapsing in very realistic de ja vu. His Taoist leaders picked up on it very early. Suggesting it was some sort of guidance from the heavens.

His robes were wrapped around him still, a small streak of sweet down his abdominal muscles - though he wasn't a man of physical power. Exercise and knowledge went hand in hand. He looked after himself and was able to keep up with the demands of the enviroment. He sat up. His legs folded and his head in his hands; clasping himself.

Was it a dream?

He extended his hands, looking at them. Burning Ships? An empty fortress? Fleeing peasents? He rubbed his head, shaking it. He felt like he had been hit be a freight train. Getting up steadily and looking at himself in the reflection of the pool in his room.

"So.. this is my destiny?"

He questioned before bowing his head. Thanking whoever was looking over him for granting him with such a honourable duty to serve his country. His fisted clenched for the first time in his Taoist life - Not for anger, violence but for his duty.

"Mark this a new age, a world of warfare we erode ourselves into.. but it shall be Master Liu Bei who arises as Emperor - mark my words."

He said swiping his fan through the air, as the air cut through the water in the reflection slicing his reflection in half. Segregation himself from emotion.

Emotion; nothing more then a ruse to get in the way of combat. How could a man making important decisions with other things upon his mind. Zhuge Liang wasn't doing this for himself - therefore his emotions were not required. He didn't care what the public thought of him, infact he would rather sacrafice his own public opinion to see his lords dreams achieved. Only then would he be satisfied with his work.

[Lu Xiang]

Ashes

Exactly several hours after the struggled sleep of Zhuge Liang.

The fan held at his chest, the banners of green flailing in the wind. A stern look upon his face of determination. His sandalled feet dug into the sound, unwilling to move. The man who will not be moved or shaken.

"Your left palm is your friend, your right palm is your enemy. Without love, you cannot hate. With hate you cannot appreciate love. Your left hand is just as important and your right. Disregard a single part of your body and you are dead. Overjudge any part of your body and once more you are dead. Knowing yourself allows you half of the battle; knowing your enemy grants you the battle if you with hold the first piece of information."

Zhuge Liang announced to his unit, equipped and training out in the central plains alone. He wasn't one for barracks - they didn't give a sense of realism. Men would be fighting barren, desolate areas. Bodies broken, swords shaken. A simple wooden structure would not surfice such training.

He shared with his men knowledge, educating them. If they knew things about war - things could be prevented. Silly skirmishes or poorly planned strategies could be avoided. Plus the troops would be more inclined to serve someone who knew what he was talking about. The downside was that Zhuge Liang personally didn't fight.

"Formation!"

He shouted, whipping his fan, as if he rippled the water. It was starting to catch on. A symbol of his power. The fan cut the air, ripping through the ranks of the men completely dividing them in half within seconds. Impressive.

"Again!"

He shouted, ripping through the ranks with his fan, this time dividing his unit in four and then six.. and then eight. Eventually turning to more complex formations. Training his men for hours upon hours.

"Men, remove your helmets."

Upon the last segment of his training, he ordered the men to remove their helmets - they followed orders.

"Embrace your sweat, your blood, your tears. You are the essence of China. Your bodies will create the new China. With a strong heart, a stronger body and strong mind behind you - there is nothing we cannot achieve... You have done well today. You are dismissed."

He said bowing quietly to his men, one at a time - paying his respects to them all individually.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Reward

10 to Fame
10 to Leadership
5 to Intelligance
10 to Ambition