Yan Provincial Roleplay

[Aisha]

The soldier, one of the lieutenants of the local brigade that had been tasked with the consolidation of the newly conquered local area, could barely contain his surprise, nearly grasping the hilt of his sword before he noticed that the man had not made any move towards a weapon of any kind. Instead, the man seemed desperate to find someone instead, probably one of the men who was tasked with the defense of the prior administration.

Deciding that it would be improper and against his personal code of conduct to ignore the man, the lieutenant remained still, standing in front of the kneeling man, and spoke.

"Hu Kang? If this Hu Kang was a commander of troops that had been captured, then he has been brought before the Marshal Fang Ai, Commander of this Campaign."

The youth looked up with a sharp intake of breath at this news. "Please, he is just a scholar, he's not fit to throw a book at someone! Where can I find Marshal Fang Ai? I have sworn to protect my oath brother and I'm not gonna let anything get in my way." He seemed far more determined than threatening, though he was dressed in armour with a spear on his back, and remained kneeling as he practically pleaded for further information.

[Shi Tong]

The youth looked up with a sharp intake of breath at this news. "Please, he is just a scholar, he's not fit to throw a book at someone! Where can I find Marshal Fang Ai? I have sworn to protect my oath brother and I'm not gonna let anything get in my way." He seemed far more determined than threatening, though he was dressed in armour with a spear on his back, and remained kneeling as he practically pleaded for further information.

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow at the words of the young soldier and tsked his tongue slightly.

"Scholar or not, your ruler put him in charge of soldiers and sent him to the field of battle. As I did not hear of any deaths of the opposing army's officers on the field of battle, I can only assume the man was captured. But riding here in a huff and declaring that you won't let anything get in the way of finding your oath-brother is only letting your youth show. Nothing more."

Sighing slightly, the Lieutenant shook his head slightly and spoke.

"The Marshal is not one to take a man's head without hesitation. Indeed, he has been rather magnanimous if I might be so bold to say, against the opponents of the Marquis on the field of battle. If your oath-brother has not endangered his own life in any way, I am sure that the Marshal has released the man from his bonds. I believe the designated location for prisoner releases was near the Changshan border."

[Meia]

((Replying to Aisha))

The door creaked open ever so slightly when Ping pounded on it, but he might have overlooked it. Only silence followed the young man's frantic cries. When Ping had hurried off, a gust of wind pushed the door further ajar, revealing a room which appeared in tact, but the resident was nowhere to be seen. Ding Yi was gone..


((Continuation for OneEyedDrgn))

When the alarms rang, Ding Yi had fled the government quarter, with nothing but the clothes on her back. Unable to find her colleagues - Lady Wen, "Sisi" and others - the frightened young woman was now alone and seemed to run amok in the smoke-filled streets. Small fires had broken out in the chaotic scene. Eveything she saw in front of her was a blur as she gasped and coughed, fighting her way through droves of screaming, disconcerted strangers.

For a further few minutes, Ding Yi ran... until she reached a familiar building, her place of solace. The board which hung above the door read "Snowy Wine Garden". Without much of a thought, she hurried inside the now-abandoned tavern, finding a grass patch among trees. She stooped down to rest, the air here was cleaner and eased her breathing. But yet Ding was shaking, as the howling cries of townfolk travelled from outdoors. She drew her hands over her ears, shutting her eyes, feeling terribly helpless, desperate and alone.

[Aisha]

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow at the words of the young soldier and tsked his tongue slightly.

"Scholar or not, your ruler put him in charge of soldiers and sent him to the field of battle. As I did not hear of any deaths of the opposing army's officers on the field of battle, I can only assume the man was captured. But riding here in a huff and declaring that you won't let anything get in the way of finding your oath-brother is only letting your youth show. Nothing more."

Sighing slightly, the Lieutenant shook his head slightly and spoke.

"The Marshal is not one to take a man's head without hesitation. Indeed, he has been rather magnanimous if I might be so bold to say, against the opponents of the Marquis on the field of battle. If your oath-brother has not endangered his own life in any way, I am sure that the Marshal has released the man from his bonds. I believe the designated location for prisoner releases was near the Changshan border."

He listened intently, mouthing the unfamiliar word that sounded like magpies, but he let his puzzled frown go when he got the gist of what the guy was trying to say. "Ah, thanks man!" He leapt to his feet and whistled to his horse which trotted over and he hauled himself up with one bound. "Hyah!" He yelled as he kicked the horse into a gallop once more and headed toward the aforementioned border on what little information he had. Surely he couldn't have gone far, not on foot, he would be found. He had to be.

[OneEyedDrgn]

Ding Yi

"So uhhh... Chief, we gonna get out of here soon? I don't want those soldiers of Shi Tong thinking we're enemies or something."

"Yeah, I guess. Lemme just get my stuff."

News of the recent battle had arrived to Zhuwen and his league of followers. Most of Zhuwen's men were outside of the city, but there were few inside. Now they were making their leave, Zhuwen only heading back to his inn so he could get his belongings. It was a damn shame, Zhuwen thought, he was hoping for much more things from the Yan army. Perhaps he should have joined earlier on so that he wouldn't have had to miss out on the thrill of a battle nor see a force he liked getting destroyed. But it was too late for that and the warrior simply saw it as a passing disappointment.

As Zhuwen and three of his followed made his way to the inn, something caught the leader's attention. A familiar looking woman, someone the warrior knew, running and looking as if she was in pain. Zhuwen stopped, his followers doing the same.

"Uhh... Chief? Anything wrong?"

"...Yeah, go get my stuff and get outta here. I'll be with you guys later on, got some business to take care of."

And with that, Zhuwen ran after Ding Yi. He would follow her all the way up to the familiar tavern and frowned when he saw the poor woman on the ground. He let out a small sigh as he walked forward.

"Yi!" he called out. "It's me, Zhuwen, don't be afraid. Come on, we have to get you out of here, those Shi Tong fellows might capture you."

He tried his best to sound calm and soothing, not trying to scare Ding Yi in case she was in a state of shock.

[Meia]

Startled, Ding Yi turned around in alarm to the sound of the man's voice."....Zhuwen" she responded, lowering her hands that were covering her ears; her eyes quickly brimmed with tears from seeing someone she recognised. "I..I don't know where everyone is! I don't know where to go!" She swallowed hard after her gasping speech, as if in a state of hyperventilation.

[OneEyedDrgn]

"It's alright, it's alright, come on."

He moved close to Ding Yi and placed a hand on her head, gently stroking it. Given the warrior's personality, some would think the man held base motives, but Zhuwen had no such inclination to take advantage of the lady. For now he just wanted to comfort a friend and get her to safety before Shi Tong would fine her.

"Look, I'm not gonna lie. Some of the officers may have been captured, some may have escaped. The best thing to do right now is for you to get to safety and then search for your friends. You need to take this calmly, I know it might be hard seeing the circumstances but you must know from reading military texts that one needs to stay composed even when the situation turns to crap. I don't think staying in this city is the best choice, I have a small camp outside with a few of my followers. You'll be safe there and I'll help you search for your friends once this take over dies out."

[Kayfen]

[Aisha]

On the path at the border, traveling alone and still wearing a robe dirtied with vomit, hair a greasy tangled mess, was Kang. He walked slowly, casting his eyes around him as if anticipating an ambush at any moment. He left behind Ping. How would he ever manage to find him? To know that he was alive, which direction he was heading? But, he couldn't go back. Could he?

((Edited- wrong gender~))

[Aisha]

Dirt flew out behind them as horse and rider hurtled down the path, hooves kicking up the road as they went, and Ping would stand in his saddle to look ahead of them and around in searching. When he saw a solitary figure in a familiar brown robe some way ahead appear over the horizon he cried out in jubilant surprise. "Ah! Kang, Kang!" He waved an arm and then dropped back into the saddle and kicked his horse again with a "Hyah!" to instruct it to pick up speed to cross the distance in no time flat. He had the horse slow slightly as they came near but he didn't stop it to get off. Instead he jumped off the horse and rolled before getting to his feet. It would have been impressive if he didn't double over to one side, rubbing his head furiously, as he muttered: "Ow, ow, ow, stupid stone."

Once he had recovered himself enough to straighten he leapt at the scholar and picked him up off his feet in a big bear hug. "Oh, man! I thought I would never find you. I'm sorry, Kang, I'm sorry I wasn't with you. It will never happen again, I swear. I'm never letting you out of my sight again!" That said, he bent down slightly to put one arm under Kang's legs and his other supported his back under the arms, he picked him up and carried him over to the horse which was doubling back for them. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He stared into his oath-brother's eyes with his dark pair, not inspecting his body for injury, and waited for him to reply.

[Kayfen]

That familiar voice...could it be?

He turned around and tilted his head, trying to make out the rider barreling toward him. Normally, he would be scared out of his mind and expecting attack, but that was definitely Ping. This was further reinforced by his oath brother not bothering to stop the horse before tumbling onto the hard ground. He was stunned from Ping's first words to being literally swept off his feet and carried to the horse. "P-Ping!" he gasped, at last, wrapping his arms around the back of his neck. "I thought I would never- I- I'm so glad you're here!" he cried, before kissing him deeply on the mouth and tightening his hold.