Pray on the weak.

[griz]

Tiao Kang heard rumors of a great beast that hunted in the western woods of the Shu nation. This creature would only attack under the cover of night and would slaughter men, women and child the same. Kang despised anything that attacked defenseless women or child and wanted the foul being's heart.

Screams could be heard coming from an open field in the dense woods. The hunter gazed over the field from a hill about 20 feet high looking outward towards the cleaning. Anger swelled in his heart as the animal began slaughter a passing envoy of caravans. Kang jumped off the hill and grabbed onto a bamboo tree with both hands to try and break his fall, the tree bent from his weight. The agile man left go and began to fall 10 from the ground. His cloak fluttered in the wind as he wrapped himself around another tree and slide down it to the ground.

The skillful predator watched the monstrosity slither back to it's lair. Kang say one of the beasts pack move to the out edges of the cleaning and begin to defecate. Slow he creeped up to a bush behind the foul being. With his knife he slit the throat of the animal and watched as it gasped for around and twisted and turned on the ground. Knowing the pack leader would never suspect it's own kind to attack it kang skinned his kill and wore the skin as a camouflage and began to move to the alpha males lair.

Two sentries stood guard and looked at kang and then moved aside once they sensed no present danger. The hunter looked on as the beast was feasting on the spoils it's won from this day. Kang moved forward and presented some meat to the pack leader. The atrocity grabbed the meat and began to devour it, kang smiled as the great beast cold dark eyes began to get heavy for kang had drugged the meat before. As the alpha fell kang took off his disguise and looked over the beast with fire in his eyes as he unsheathed his knife.

The creature tried to move but kang crouched down placed his hand over it's mouth and began to cut out it's heart. The knife pierced it's chest with ease, the cracking of bones could only be slightly heard. The hunter plunged his hand into the open chest wound and ripped the alpha males heart out, kang stood up and looked over the weak, pathetic excuse of a man below him and smiled at him as he walked away with his still beating heart.

Walking outside of the war tent with heart and knife in hand kang snuck up on the guards posted outside. He grabbed on from behind and slashed open his jugular, a fountain of blood spurted from his neck. The started second guard looked at Kang who was already in front of him proceeding to put a knife to his throat.

"Sound the alarm, now!" The guard blew a loud whistle which sounded a series of other wishes throughout the encampment. Hundreds of torch's could be seen lighting up as bandits poured in around Kang and his hostage.

"Step back or another one of you dies!" Kang pressed the knife closer to the guards throat

"Do as he says! Please my brothers!" The bandits around them back off a little. Kang addressed the horde of roughens.

"I have slain the swine you called a leader." Confused faces looked around for their leader which was being dragged from his tent. Kang released his hostage and held the heart high.

"Now pledge your loyalty to me or I vow that more will die." The horde or would be soldiers looked at one another and voices could be heard echoing through the camp. After a short amount of time they began to chant "Strongest shall rule, Strongest shall rule" the entire horde bent to one knee as they knowledge Tiao Kang as their new leader. Kang moved towards the back of the envoy to search it for supplies or weapons.

(SIDENOTE: + 1500 troops)

[Zhao Yun]

~Palace~

Zhao Yun left the palace and moved toward the main gates. He had to inform his soldiers that they now fought for Shu and Liu Bei. The guards, now aware of who Zilong was, immediately opened the gates for him and he then moved toward the position of his camp.

~Camp~

"Here he comes" one of the soldiers exclaimed. The men had been waiting for an entire day for their leader to return and they were becoming anxious, maybe even nervous.

The other soldiers heard their comrade and many moved to meet Zhao Yun.

"How did it go, sir?"

A captain, chosen among the men to lead in Zilong's absence, was the one to speak up.

"Our new lord is Liu Bei and I expect everyone to fight and possibly die for him as you have for me."

The men nodded and some even cheered. They knew of the famed leader, but none of them had actually met him. Now, they would not only get their chance to do so, but they would also get the chance to go down in history as being a part of the force that reunited China.

One soldier approached Zhao Yun as the others began dismantling the camp. They would take all of the supplies into the city for future use.

"Sir, right before you arrived, Feng and I were out near the forests, scavenging for food and what not, when we heard screams as well as the crackling of flames."

"Well then, let us go see what the commotion was about" Zhao Yun ordered. He then called off 1000 men to accompany him.

~Forest~

The group headed to where the soldiers heard screaming and crackling. When they arrived, Zhao Yun quickly ordered them to draw their weapons.

"Weapons ready! Archers take positions within the trees, swords on me!"

In the center of the road, between two patches of thick trees, there was a convoy of wagons. Zilong could not tell if it was a Shu convoy yet because it was too dark, but what he could discern was that dead bodies littered the ground. Some of the fallen were women and other were children. Smoke was rising from some charred bodies and others were still burning.

The scene made Zhao Yun Furious, but some of his men threw up their dinners due to the horrific sight. Yun had been through many battles and had seen mounds of dead soldiers, but not innocents. He grabbed his spear tightly to the point where his knuckles turned white.

"Through the smoke men could be seen and clearly they were the culprits of such unspeakable crimes. Zilong noted a dark, mysterious, looking man disappear toward the rear of the convoy and as he did the Shu troops were spotted.

"We have company!"

Quickly, the bandits moved toward the side where Zhao Yun's men were and they prepared for a fight; they were roughly 1500 strong. However, before they could all respond to the attackers, Zhao Yun ordered his men forward.

He raised his spear and urged on his steed. The soldiers sent out a battle cry and charged into the fray against the enemy that did the same. The Shu soldiers moved forward in unison, 750 swords strong, toward the bandits who were scattered across the road; looting everything in sight.

The first unlucky bandit bastard to reach Yun was trampled under hoof like a bug under a boot. The next was impaled on his spear and quickly thrown off like a rag doll. Two more were dispatched with ease and suddenly the bandits were not so eager to engage Zilong.

Swords clashed, men screamed, and the blood flowed in torrents.

[griz]

Kang could hear clashing of swords, screaming men, and horse wailing. He could care less what happened the the men since he only made them pledge loyalty until he lead them to their demises anyways, though it seems it found them early.

Savaging through the first cart he found 9 barrels of sesame seed oil and three crates filled with pigs lard.

"Hmmm....I'd beat 20 gold the next carts had some wicks as well as some arrows." The jackal of a man moved to the next cart to find it contained hundreds of arrows. Kang filled up two quivers of arrows and placed them on his back.

"Now lets set a little surprise for these fools" Kang moved to the next cart and found some wicks, and barrels filled with what smelled to be rice alcohol. He went back to the first cart and cracked open one of the barrels of sesame seed oil and began to pour it between the three carts. He tied 20 wicks together to make a long fuse which he lead from the first cart to the second. Kang then place one create of lard under each cart. Finally he made one long wick tieing the third cart to the second which he lit and it slowing began to burn.

In the mean time while Kang was setting up this trap both small armies had been fighting in a skirmish the bandits were mostly scattered but managed to take down a dozen of the trained soldiers. However they were losing hundreds to a small group of what seemed to be elite unit being lead by a man in silver armor. The man slaughtered the bandits as if the fires of hell burned within him.

Tiao Kang witnessed the silver clad man and a smile crossed his face.

"I've been waiting for some of this strength to emerge." Kang chuckled to himself as he unsheathed his sword and cut one of his one men off his horse and mounted it. He waited for his chance to rush the shinning light in the sea of blood that followed in this mans wake.

[Zhao Yun]

"General!"

A soldier yelled to his leader, trying to get his attention because an enemy was approaching from behind with a spear. Quickly, the soldier rushed forward to Zhao Yun's aid and lunged for the enemy. His sword ripped through the chest of the bandit scum, but immediately after he was impaled on an enemy spear.

Zhao Yun turned to see his soldier fall to the ground, dead. He went into rage mode and urged his horse toward the enemy that vanquished his brave follower. The bandit stabbed for Yun’s horse, but a quick parry stopped him cold. The next thing he knew, or rather felt, was a sharp pain for Yun had brought his spear up and across the bandit’s chest. Blood spurted out and he looked up at his murderer right before fading and falling to the ground.

Zhao Yun’s men were fighting bravely and their training was superior to the bandits, but many of the enemy were former soldiers or mercenaries. They were putting up a good fight as long as they stayed away from Yun. It was like a slaughter house anywhere near him.

Just as Zhao Yun was about to move against an enemy that was fighting one of his soldiers, he noticed what looked to be the enemy leader. He was unaware that the man upon the horse was actually the murderer of the bandit leader. Either way, it mattered little because Yun was going to finish the battle.

Both men, the only two upon horses, locked their eyes upon one another in what could only be explained as death stares. Zhao Yun pulled the reins of his horse and yelled out abuse to his foe.

“You! Vermin King! Come and face the might of Zhao Yun!”

Urging his horse forward, he watched as Tiao Kang did the same and Yun prepared his spear for a killing blow. The enemy approached closer and when he was within 20 yards or so he unleashed his weapon. The spear was headed right for the horses chest, aiming to destroy it and send Kang on his face.

[griz]

Tiao Kang saw Zhao Yun charging straight at him with his spear pointing downward. Kang kicked his horses sides three times, the horse shook it's head as it went into a full gallop. Kang let out a mighty roar as his horse was impaled in the chest. As the horse began to fall to it's knees kang pushed as hard as he could off his spurs and into the air directly towards Zhao Yun.

"RRRRAAAAHHH!!" Kang flew over the great war horses head and grabbed Zhao Yun by the shoulder and pulled him right off his horse with him. While being pulled off Zhao Yun had managed to unsheathe his sword before tumbling to the ground with Tiao Kang. Both men rolled and skidded across the dirt but spread across from one another. Both warriors stood up and glared at each other while they began to be shrouded by soldiers.

"Leave us.....ALONE!" Kang yelled as he unsheathed his sword and cut the head off of a Shu troop. Another lemming rushed forward only to be met with a hunting knife plunged into his left eye. Tiao ripped the knife out and repositioned himself towards Zhao Yun to witness him decimating some bandits.

Zhao impaled a bandit to the hilt on his sword and used two hands to rip it out of the bandits side. Another enemy rushed in as Zhao Yun kicked up a discarded sword and threw it straight at the rushing fodder who was taken down as it hit by on coming horse. Zhao Yun turned to see Kang waiting for him to be done with his work out.

Kang put his knife into the sheathe behind his back and turned his sword backwards up his right arm. He ran at Zhao Yun who got ready for the on coming attack. Tiao Kang pivoted to the side and somersaulted at Zhao Yun spinning his blade only to meet a crouching Zhao Yun who had his bladed pushing up with both hands and threw Kang back into the air. Kang landed on his feet about 7 feet away from Zhao.

[Zhao Yun]

Zhao Yun’s spear blasted into the chest of Kang’s horse. He would normally not attack such a creature, but he was furious at the enemy for slaughtering the convoy and all of them would pay; beasts included.

Yun thought that Kang would have been sent to the ground, giving him the advantage. However, the cloaked bandit leaped from his horse in a most spectacular show of agility. Kang grabbed at Yun’s armor, near the neck, and yanked him from his steed.

Both men hit the ground, hard, but they got to their feet quickly to square off again. Soldiers from each side tried their hands at them, but all were dispatched before they locked eyes again.

Kang charged and somersaulted towards Yun, attacking with a strike aimed at the head. Yun was able to block the attack and he pushed back sending Kang backwards. Yun then charged as his opponent was readying himself and swung his sword laterally across the enemy’s chest. The attack was quickly parried by Kang who held his blade downward, parallel to his arm as he usually held it.

Upon the ground was a bandit sword and Yun kicked it up to his left hand. He now wielded twin broad swords and he moved again toward his foe. The two exchanged another ten bouts, back and forth, before a large circle of death started to form. Soldiers from both sides were not even engaging one another, but instead they were watching the duel unfold.

“You are not without skill” Yun said, flailing around the twin swords. He was urging Kang on to attack so that he could counter and end the fight.

[griz]

Kang smiled back at the man as he blocked two incoming vertical slashes that sent him sliding back a bit.

"This will be finished soon enough." Kang ran and fainted a overhead slash. Zhao Yun went to block the attack as Kang went down on his hip sliding to kick Zhao yun in the back of his left leg. Zhao yun lost his footing and fell onto his back as he heard Tiao Kang speak.

"Time to even the playing field" Kang unsheathed his hunting knife and brought it forcefully down toward Zhao Yun's face whom crossed his swords and blacked the knife by it's hilt.

"Fool! The mighty ZHAO YUN WILL NOT BE TAKEN DOWN THAT EASILY!!" Zhao Yun scissored his broadswords to disarm Kang. The hunting knife went sailing into the ground.

"Interesting I've never came across such a skilled opponent before." Kang noticed a bandits hatchet beneath his feet, he kicked it up and threw it vertically towards the newly found equal. Zhao Yun moved slightly as the hatchet just barely missed him but hit another bandit behind him right between the eyes. Kang used this time to grab his knife and re-sheathe it as he leaped into the air turning his sword upside down with two hands with the tip pointing down toward Zhao Yun.

[Zhao Yun]

Zhao Yun barely dodged the hatchet that flew by his face and doing so he lost his helmet. Behind him a bandit was annihilated by the thrown weapon and blood squirted like a fountain from his chest.

Long black hair dropped to Yun's shoulders. His helmet was a few feet away, but he left it there. He set his sight on Kang once again and the two exchanged. This time the bandit leader rushed in and jumped, stabbing downward toward his enemy’s head. Yun jumped backward though, avoiding the stab which cut into the ground.

Kang was finally vulnerable, with his weapon lodged in the ground, but just as Zhao Yun was about to make an attempt at his life there was a massive explosion. The rear supply wagon was torn apart and Shu swordsmen were sent flying. The second cart was ignited and it too blew up, sending pieces of both bandits and Yun’s men all over.

Yun himself was sent to the ground, rocked from the trap, and no one had any idea that Kang had rigged it only minutes earlier. The warrior tried to right himself, looking around for his blade and helmet. Just as he came to, he noticed Kang mounting his very own steed and riding off up the road. Fury overcame him and he immediately got to his feet.

“Oh my god! My le…my leg…” a soldier said, holding the stump that was now his right leg. Others would call him lefty now for the rest of his life.

Zhao Yun unleashed his wrath on a poor bandit who was near to him. His sword cut the scum’s head in twain like a melon, sending pieces and chunks of things all over. He was about to order the execution of all bandits present, but one spoke up right away.

“Please, spare us! That man had attacked and killed our leader who no one liked anyway. We would gladly serve a strong warrior such as yourself!”

Zhao Yun knew the bandit was full of shit, but he could use the extra men. Liu Bei’s virtuosity would hopefully rub off on even the likes of them, lowly filth who pillage and murder.

“Very well, you will be spared. However, I request something of you immediately” Yun stated, walking over to the carcass of the former bandit leader’s horse and ripping his spear out.

“You will track that cloaked villain right away. Slay him and return my horse, for that you will have earned my trust.”

With that, five bandits moved up the road after Kang with intents on murder. They would have to prove worthy to Zhao Yun and Shu or they would be discarded like junk.