A Brief Respite

[Lu Bu]

It was a sunny day in the Lands of Shou Chun. There was a break in the battles and Lu Bu was going to take advantage of it. He found a nice river that led into the River that split Zhongyuan and Jiang Dong apart. He let Red Hare graze nearby, free of his battle armor. Lu Bu stripped himself of his massive armor with a loud thud of it hitting the soft ground.

He jumped into the River and washed the blood and dirt from his skin. Even his iconic war part was washed downstream. The water was a bit warm and the sun beat down on the two warriors. Lu Bu smiled genuinely as he sat against a submerged boulder, enjoying the swift current.

A swift respite was what Fengxian needed.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Rui was violently head-butted in the gut by the young Kouji as they continued their small fight. Their swords clashing against the other as they fought against the other. Rui grinned with a hint of pain in his expression as he fought against the younger pirate. Kouji had only just stopped his strange behaviour of hiding in his room so was finally back in the game of practice fighting with his captain.

The katana against the long sword were equal at first but slowly Kouji began to gain the upper hand in the squabble. Soon enough Rui was flat on his back with a sharp blade pressed to his throat. The captain sighed before giving a heart-filled chuckled. "You're getting good I must say." Rui spoke as he got up and placed his sword back in the sheath before turning to shake hands with Kouji.

"Thanks, I learned from the best." Kouji replied as he also put his weapon away. "Maybe we could go and have a quick dip to relax for a while." Kouji suggested and Rui eagerly nodded. Soon the two males were running down towards the water to enjoy a brief splash in the cool river before they suddenly came to a halt as they stared at the horse. "That's a big horse..." Rui spoke before noticing that Kouji had completely frozen to the spot.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu had almost dozed off when he heard a noise over near Red Hare. He peeked around the boulder and gasped. It was the boy from that night and another man. Lu Bu cursed his luck. However, his luck wasn't all bad, he had removed his armor on the shore of the river, near the boulder. His weapon gleamed in the sun, casting reflection everywhere.

'No rest for the wicked, I guess. They shouldn't be too hard, especially Kouji, heh.'

Red Hare stared at the two teenagers with curiosity. He flicked his tail, but did not move. His black tinted eyes bore into them with keen intellect. He let out a loud, deep neigh before stomping his foot. Meanwhile, Lu Bu drug his trousers and armor fittings into the river, putting them on as quickly as possible.

Once they were on snugly, he rose from the water, grabbing his weapon smoothly before slowly walking towards the two. His tanned skin was wet, his body chiseled, and his eyes locked directly on the two. He stood before them, dripping wet with only the lower leather parts of his armor suit.

"What do you want?", He said bluntly.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Kouji trembled with fear since he still remembered the face very clearly from the experience he had encountered a while back. He backed away slowly and moved behind Rui whilst gripping the hilt of his sword. "We should leave." Kouji whimpered into Rui's ear.

Rui looked at the young lad and blinked in confusion. He turned his attention back to Lu Bu. "I'm sorry to bother you, we didn't except anyone else to be along this stretch of the river. Maybe we should move further up stream to avoid bothering you dear sir." Rui spoke as he gripped Kouji's hand and started to walk away to head up the river.

Rui didn't want to get caught up in a fight and certainly didn't want to bother the stranger. Also with Kouji showing immense fear made alarm bells ring for Rui and he knew to get away quickly before he could get caught up in something nasty. Rui was a captain and knew he had to defend his crew.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu frowned, he had wanted some excitement, no matter how troublesome. His eyes flashed mischievously and he smirked with an evil intent. He spoke just barely loud enough to be heard.

"Nice to see you again, Kouji...."

He put emphasis on Kouji's name, hoping to either rile him or make him tremble with fear. Perhaps his little friend could prove entertaining as well.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Kouji froze on the spot causing Rui to stop as well. Rui turned and looked at Kouji who was trembling violently. Rui narrowed his eyes and glowered at Lu Bu. "Kouji, just ignore him and he'll go away." Rui growled in a deep voice that displayed anger at the situation.

It wasn't long until Kouji suddenly snapped and drew his katana. "I'll make you pay for what you did to me!" The boy screamed as he charged towards Lu Bu with intentions set upon killing the man. Rui was left stunned by what was happening in front of his eyes. "Kouji..." Rui whispered, he had no idea what had happened to Kouji and he didn't really want to find out but he knew that Kouji was hurting deep down and needed help.

Rui drew his long sword and rushed after Kouji to provide back up knowing that Kouji would be unable to fight the large man alone.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu's smirk withheld as Kouji rushed at him with lightning speed. As Kouji swung for him, Bu held out his weapon. Their blades clashed in a loud clanking noise, each struggling to overpower the other. Lu Bu was surprised at Kouji's burst of strength, but it was only temporary. Bu knew that the young boy had no real strength.

Fengxian bent his head down so that he and Kouji were face to face behind each other's weapons. He looked him directly into his eyes and spoke with a deep tone.

"You think you can challenge me now, Kouji? You are weak. I will show you your place once more. Perhaps your friend would like to be my next play toy, mua ha ha!"

During all of this, Red Hare stared intensely. He could only watch the battle now. After finishing in sentence, Bu noticed the other boy approaching with his own sword. He wasn't that bad looking either.

'Two on One. This should prove entertaining!', He thought with glee.

With Rui approaching, the deadlock would only give him a free shot on Lu Bu. Fengxian knew this and pushed hard against Kouji. Using the conjoined handles of his large weapon to try and push Kouji onto the ground very roughly. If Kouji broke, then he could defend against Rui.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Kouji continued to hold up against Lu Bu, his eyes displaying rage as he felt the weapons clash and shove. "I won't let you touch my captain and I swear I'll make sure that you won't get your way ever again!" Kouji snarled as his boots dug into the earth and he put his full body into the return assault. He just needed to hold on long enough for Rui to attack but the seconds were slipping away all too rapidly.

Rui raced to the deadlock and introduced his own blade and aimed for Lu Bu's legs in hope of affecting the man's balance and gaining the upper hand. "No one threatens any member of my crew!" Rui snarled as he lashed out at the large man.

[Lu Bu]

'Damn, he's tougher then I thought!'

Bu broke the deadlock instantly as he saw Rui's blade approaching. It tore into his shin and shivved off a piece of flesh and bits of leather. Bu winced angrily and jumped backwards, kicking up a cloud of dirt. He rose slowly and unhinged his weapon, now wielding a vouge in each hand. He then glanced at his foot, it bleed freely, but not enough to be fatal.

"Not bad, but no one has ever defeated me. You have no chance! RAAAAAAH"

With that said, he attacked them both. Swinging his vouges wildly and furiously, he laid down a vicious siege against them. He aimed to give them no time to rest or collect themselves. The adrenaline pumped in Lu Bu's system, battle had come to find him for once.....and he would oblige.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Rui growled as Lu Bu returned the favour by attacking the both of them. Rui pushed Kouji to the ground and used his own body as a shield for the younger warrior. Rui was able to block against one weapon but the second cut deep across his chest. The blood dripped down onto Kouji but Rui didn't seem weakened or ready to back down quite yet. Rui tried to charge into Lu Bu in hope of toppling the large man.

Kouji watched as Rui did the fighting which made Kouji feel useless. He got himself in a kneeling position and aimed his katana to push between Rui's legs and hopefully stab into Lu Bu's. He just needed Rui not to move too much in the mean time.

[Lu Bu]

With a clang of metal and flesh, Rui slammed directly into Lu Bu with his attempt to topple the larger man. Bu's heels dug into the soil and he slid back with a scowl. Kouji's blade struck out and dug into his leather armor, cutting into his skin lightly and ripping the material.

"If you seek power then show me your might! Otherwise, I will bury you!", he growled into Rui's face.

He lifted the leg that Kouji struck and tried to kick Rui back as hard as he could. Lu Bu had height and muscle mass on the smaller male and a brawl was likely to go in Bu's favor. If Rui was felled by this kick then Kouji's blade would be in the wrong area.

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Rui tried his best to remain standing but eventually he gave up and fell backwards on to Kouji. The boy let go of the katana as the other man fell upon him and the blade sliced Rui's inner thigh before being stopped by the aid of Tsu, Rui's pet monkey who prevented the worst of the damage. Rui sighed with relief and he kicked his legs at Lu Bu's knees to try and strike the nerve to bring the man down.

Kouji laid still knowing he wasn't about to get anywhere in the mean time.

[Lu Bu]

As Rui tried to strike the nerve that forced a man onto his knees, Lu Bu advanced. The nerve was on the back of the knee and kicking at Lu Bu's knees from the front was futile, especially when the leather acted as a brace. Bu stepped onto the katana and kicked it away from them by sliding it on the grass, using the backside of it.

He then attempted to punt the small monkey away from the pair of boys. He swung his foot quickly and with much force in a short kicking motion. Regardless of it worked or not, he reached out and grabbed Kouji by the ankle.

Bu pulled hard and tried to drag Kouji to him, one hand still on his weapon which was held out to keep Rui at bay.

"Enough, you are defeated..."

[Tsuki (Ancient One)]

Tsu was swift and easily moved out of the way of the attacks and soon began running off to a safe distance to watch the conflict whilst avoiding being harmed itself.

Kouji squeaked and gripped Rui as he was dragged out from beneath the other man. He refused to let go of his captain out of fear of the events from before happening again. "No... no..." Kouji whimpered as he dragged Rui along with him.

Rui kept a firm eye upon Lu Bu's weapon before lifting up the long sword and using it to defend himself. "We'll never give up!" Rui growled still showing spirit to the very end.

[Lu Bu]

Bu drug Kouji's body to a close proximity to him with a lusty smirk, having been a little aroused at Kouji's predicament. He thrust those thoughts from his mind and placed his foot on Kouji's small back, firmly pressing him down. He still held onto the ankle, but turned his focus to Rui with a serious expression.

"Choose your words carefully, worm. If I wanted to I could've killed you already. Kouji is no threat to me, I've dominated him. If you continue to fight me, you will be in the same situation as little Kouji here. Did you see the marks I left upon his body? Ha ha ha ha! I could easily break you and if you never give up, then I will never stop beating you....."

He then bent down and grabbed the back of Kouji's neck, lifting him up and whispering into his ear in that same brutal fashion.

"Isn't that right, toy?"