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Southern General

Son belonging to family with a long line of Generals. Sassy hero.

                                                                 Johnny Zhang

Author's note: Faceclaim for the Southern General. Imagine him as you would like though.

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"Your troops have dwindled down to nothing, Southern General."

A rough pirate mocked the young general who had inherited the position from his father, their line of generals spanning generations, only for his troops to be split into three, ambushed on their supply route by separate Japanese pirate forces joining together to annihilate the Chinese scum.

"Show me your leader, and I'll show you what I still have left in me," remarked the Southern General as he was surrounded by men on all sides. His men had fought valiantly, but none had survived the horrific onslaught. There was just one chance left that the pirates would be defeated.

Glancing at the attackers, he changed course multiple times and dove underneath a pirate's leg, coming out the other side and charging off into the tumultuous waves.

Swimming a bit far into the sea, he dragged himself onto a tiny cove, checking his wounds all over. Blood seeped from torn trousers, thankfully the saltwater burned which meant infection was staved off for now. Quickly standing up, he met a veiled face in front of him.

One petite person stood in front; others followed after in droves.

They had found him-by their smirking faces, he figured that the pirates thought they had had won. Frowning, he raised his sword high, the pirates ready to lay their final blow on the desperate leader, only for him to plunge it deep into the wet sand.

Taking off her black veil, a pirate lady ordered her men to stand down while the pirates looked on surprised. Surely, he was surrendering. How could he not be with the odds against him?

He began to laugh as a pirate yelled, "He's gone mad, ma'am."

"You lost, Pirate Princess," the Southern General exclaimed, covering his open mouth with his hands to not taste the sand, blown from the strong wind into the air, of the inlet.

"You know what happens to those who see my face?", she remarked, sharpening a silver knife.

"Long live the Conqueror," he said when he heard a loud cannon sounded in the distance.

"Madame! Reinforcements have arrived! It was a distraction...we've lost two of our main forces already!", yelled a messenger coming from the mainland.

In the time that the Southern General had diverted the Pirate Lady's troops, a messenger had been sent ahead on foot to alert the closest General, the mute Eastern General, of their imminent defeat.

"We have to retreat," muttered a pirate as he pulled on her top before being gutted savagely by the Japanese Pirate Lady.

"Before, you were a hindrance. Now, you must pay for your grievous interference," she said to the Southern General, plunging a sword deep into his side.

"Fate is a tricky thing," he murmured as she leaned in, intent on listening to his final words.

"How so?", she taunted. It had been a breeze to take out these malnourished fools, perhaps going farther inland would reap more rewards?

"A stab is how you'll die," he replied, chuckling as she finished the blow, lodging the knife deep into bone.

"How do we get rid of the body, ma'am?", yelled the rough pirate.

Without hesitation, she said, "Throw it to the ocean. Let him never be at peace while his ancestors gnash their teeth over his body being lost to them."

"That would be a fitting death," responded another pirate. "However, I think he meant it what he said about the stab."

"What?", she responded before feeling a slight trickle of blood go down her shirt. Her irritation with the Chinese soldiers increased a thousandfold that day. Bloodlust in her eyes, she faced the Chinese scum, thrusting a sword into the spy who had tricked her. Disposing of the traitor, she turned to face the Southern General.

"Loyal men are hard to find these days," said the Southern General as he once again dove into the sea.

Finding himself on the firm mainland, the Southern General breathed a sigh of relief.

"General?", called out a messenger from the Eastern General's camp as he approached the weary leader.

He stood up, but his knees buckled underneath him. "Alert the court," he whispered, tugging on the messenger's boots. "The kingdom is in peril."

The messenger started, "Sire, we will help you..."

"Tell the Eastern General...", he said, trailing off as red drops appeared on his lip.

"There is a reckoning coming. Choose the right side or perish."

"Can you tell the General yourself when he comes?", asked a scout from the General's troop. Both the scout and messenger belonged to the regiment that the Chieftain's Daughter assisted in training, and had been on patrol on the Eastern border when called to help the Southern General.

"Respect," quipped the Archer as he squatted down by the Southern General and checked his pulse. Lingering, but still there, albeit barely. It would take a strong horse going at breakneck pace and a hardy rider to bring him back to the nearest doctor.

Panting, the General soon arrived on horseback, leaping off to greet the Western General's closest comrade, the Southern General.

"The tides are coming in," whispered the Southern General. "Let me..."

His speech trailing off, the General placed his hand near the Southern General's hand, and the older man weakly traced a character. Startled, the General looked to confirm the message once more.

With a firm nod, the Southern General left, carried by soldiers as they sprinted off in haste.

Alas, it would be the last time they locked eyes on each other.

Swallowing, the General, otherwise known as the Eastern General, commanded his troops via hand signals to hurry back to the capitol.

"General?", called out the Archer, the forces gathered below him confused on the reason why. Should they not protect the nearby villages from the pirate's future onslaught?

A pale face accompanied by clenched teeth greeted them back as the Eastern General recalled the haunting character the Southern General wrote. His troops could only glance, clearly muddled as their eyebrows rose in unison at the next words he wrote down on a banner.

"The Conqueror's in danger."

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Author's note: It is implied that the Southern General died in this chapter. As his death is mentioned in the next chapter, I do not want it to come off as a complete shock. Unfortunately, his death advances the plot. #RIPSouthernGeneral *cries over fictional character's death* He reminds me of this dude below.

https://youtu.be/okmGtXXeXh8

Author's note: Drama: Fighter of Destiny. One of the best c-dramas I have watched. Romance between the leads is severely underdeveloped, not the actors fault, but thankfully the drama has a bunch of likeable main characters, the male lead/female lead are good characters when by themselves, and the plot is good. (If you're looking for romance, there is other romances that are not between the male lead and female lead in the story, but the story itself is 98% non-romance. A relief as I primarily watched it for the fantasy historical fiction action.)