World Conquest Online

Subutai had arranged the Bandits in an organised formation with Tomoe and Guo Sheng leading from the front, Dom in the centre with Lu Fang and the carts that were laden with Gold, Weapons, Books, Jewellery, Food, useful Items and Loot. Subutai was taking up the rear as the rear guard. The Red Bandits took the left side of the formation, where as the right was the White Bandits.

The twenty riders quickly pulled their horses back as they saw the two hundred bandits in front of them, with carts full of valuables, weapons and food. The lead horseman, the short one with the sword rode forwards and shouted towards the group who were departing the valley between the peaks.

"Why are you blocking the road?" The Short Warrior shouted from atop his brown horse.

"We are not, we are departing." Subutai shouted back, feeling it was quite obvious they were departing. Subutai was seated on his Red Hare and towered over the Short Warrior.

"After raiding the camps?" The Short Warrior accused. "There are supposed to be Heroes of the land here, what have you done with them?"

"We have not raided the camps," Subutai replied. "The men you see here have joined our Lord as his loyal men."

"Bring them forwards, I wish to speak with them." The Short Warrior ordered, seemingly unhappy with the current situation for some reason.

"Do you not trust my word?" Subutai replied, frustrated at being called a liar.

"No, but I do not know you, and want to see the truth for myself." The Short Warrior challenged.

"I do not know you, so I can not take orders from you." Subutai replied, as Dom who was slightly further up the formation originally, had now appeared on his large Red Hare Horse as well. Dom was dressed in his black armour and held his spear in his hand.

"What is your name?" The Short Warrior asked, a bit more cautious this time as he took in the surroundings and the faces of the Bandits ahead of him, with two Leaders both on the back of the Red Hare Horses,, who were heavily armed and armoured.

"I am Subutai, General of Riverside." Subutai replied politely after giving Dom a look, "And you?"

"I am Song Jiang, people call me the Timely Rain, I am a former Magisterial Clerk from Yuncheng County. My sworn brother back there is Hua Rong a commandant at Fort Clear Winds." The Short Warrior Song Jiang replied.

.....

Whilst Subutai made introductions from a distance, Lu Fang had also come to the front beside Dom and asked what was happening. Dom explained that a man called Song Jiang had arrived and was questioning what they were doing here and what had happened to the camp.

"Song Jiang is a well known Hero on the Jianghu Scene, as is Hua Rong who is known as an excellent Archer." Lu Fang responded. "They are good men that you should try to get to join us."

"They seem to have come with the intention of meeting you." Dom replied to Lu Fang, wanting to gauge his response.

"That is an honour." Lu Fang replied seriously, "I have heard good things about him, he often gives money to those that are in need, and will give housing to Heroes who are hiding from the Law."

"So he is a good man then?" Dom asked, wondering if hiding law breakers was something a good man would do.

"From what I know, yes he is." Lu Fang stated.

Dom took the advice on board and moved forwards on his horse. "I am Lord Lazarus of Riverside, I have heard of your names and I am please to meet you both. The Leaders of these peaks have joined me and my City, this is Lu Fang the Little Marquis."

"Sorry for the rudeness Lord Lazarus. It is good to meet you, I am sorry I have not heard of your good name before." Song Jiang replied with a slight bow, with Dom being a more hierarchically person with a Lord’s title, the aggression in his tone reducing slightly, "May I ask why you have set the camps on fire?"

"We have committed to leave our banditry ways and join Lord Lazarus and his kingdom, we have burned our camps so that we can’t return home, and no one else can take these peaks easily to do what we have done." Lu Fang replied politely, stepping forward beside Dom. He looked at Dom as he said it, realising he may have spoken out of term as he didn’t have Dom’s permission to speak, but Dom just nodded at him and smiled.

"Are you leaving the Song Dynasty?" Song Jiang asked Lu Fang seriously, a feeling of hurt and betrayal in his voice.

"We are not betraying the Song Dynasty, and will not raise arms against our emperor." Lu Fang replied, "But a fresh start is needed for me and my brother Guo Sheng, away from the courts corruption."

"That is a shame, I would have invited you to join us to travel to Liangshan Marsh." Song Jiang replied evenly, "We are heading that way and are planning to join up with the leader Chao Gai temporarily, until we can receive amnesty from the Emperor and become Law abiding again."

"If you had arrived earlier, the temptation would have been there." Lu Fang replied seriously, "But General Subutai ceased a fight between myself and my sword brother Guo Sheng with just an arrow. The other General Tomoe is just as intimidating and impressive. Whilst Lord Lazarus is a benevolent Lord."

"It is good that you have found a new home." Song Jiang replied, after a few seconds a smile suddenly appeared on his face. "An Arrow?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Yes an arrow." Lu Fang replied, "I have never seen something as good."

"I can show you if you’d like." Subutai replied, gentler than before when he realised this could also be a recruitment opportunity.

"My brother Hua Rong is also an excellent Archer. Why don’t you compete to see who is the better?" Song Jiang replied, as if he was in serious thought as he said it.

"A Competition in Archery?" Subutai said with a grin, "I must ask my Lord, as we are in a rush."

"Sure, go for it." Dom replied, trying to work out Song Jiang’s thought behind this. "We can spare a few more minutes before we leave, but we can’t stay much more than that as we need to rest before our next move."

Song Jiang turned and motioned for Hua Rong to head over, who did. He was an extremely handsome man, with muscular shoulders and pearl white teeth. He was holding his bow in his hand as he approached with a smile on his face. He was a striking difference to Song Jiang who was shorter and less attractive.

"Brother Song, you seem to have been talking for a while, have you got to the bottom of it?" Hua Rong asked.

"Yes, it seems to be a misunderstanding. The Heroes from the Reflection Peaks have found a new Lord and are leaving the Song Dynasty for a new home." Song Jiang replied, "They were impressed by the Foreigners Archery skills, I wanted to see it myself and thought you would be interested."

"I am also interested to see it, as a skilled Archer myself, I am always wanting to test myself against the very best." Hua Rong replied seriously and honestly. "It must be impressive to make you want to leave your home."

.....

They soon got themselves positioned at the bottom of the Red Peak, with Hua Rong and Subutai in the middle, were as the others gathered around loosely.

"Then let’s choose a target at a distance and both aim for it." Subutai replied, "We will compete and show of our skills in this way."

"Aim for the fruit on that tree." Song Jiang asked, pointing at a Peach Tree on the left peak. Dom agreed and both Subutai and Hua Rong raised their bows and let loose.

Hua Rong’s shot first and hit true, his arrow piercing the fruit and making it fall from the tree. As it fell, it was suddenly hit by a second arrow that was launched by Subutai that pierced the original arrow and split the Peach in two.

Song Jiang, Dom, Lu Fang and the surrounding Bandits all clapped at the sight. The twenty Riders that had followed Hua Rong and Song Jiang also clapped, having now joined the group.

"General Subutai, that was amazing." Hua Rong said, with fire in his eyes, "What’s next?"

"You see those leaves that have turned slightly brown at the top of the tree?" Subutai said, "Let’s aim for those."

Hua Rong eagerly agreed, pulling his bow string and aiming. Subutai did the same thing and grinned at Dom as Hua Rong let loose milliseconds before Subutai. As Hua Rong’s arrow was about to pierce the leaf, Subutai’s arrow slid across Hua Rong’s and hit the leaf first. Hua Rong’s arrow however now went wide from the force and flew past the tree.

"My brother Hua Rong is the greatest Archer of our time." Song Jiang stated in shock, "But seeing him against General Subutai has opened my eyes to a wider world."

"Can you show me more?" Hua Rong asked intently, having found a real challenge finally.

"Why not hit one of those geese that are flying over?" Lu Fang asked from beside Dom, as they all looked over and saw a flock of geese flying in a wedge formation above them.

"You should not shoot the Geese." Song Jiang declared seriously, "Geese are the most virtuous of birds. They fly from north to south, and then back to the north again as the weather changes with a reed in their mouth. They mate for life, and if a gander loses his goose or a goose loses her gander, they are to be alone for the rest of their life. They fly in an orderly fashion with a leader at the front and they never leave the flock. They are a family."

"Ok, let’s not aim at the Geese." Dom replied, not wanting to upset their new guest. "Let’s find something else."

"I would appreciate it." Song Jiang stated, "Geese posses the five key virtuous, they are compassionate, if one dies in flight they will cry in mourning. They are honourable, if they lose their mate, they will never pair up again. They are moral and they all know their place in formation. They are intelligent, flying with reeds to be silent from flying predators and they have faith, traveling from north to south, every year, without fail."

"I think he likes Geese." Subutai whispered to Dom, which Hua Rong heard and laughed at.

"Why are you laughing brother?" Song Jiang asked Hua Rong.

"At the happy occasion, maybe we should join with them and return once a general amnesty is granted?" Hua Rong replied, "There is a lot I could learn from General Subutai."

"What of our brothers?" Song Jiang replied seriously, "Those on Liangshan we wish to join, or those who are following behind us, like Qin Ming, Yan Shun, Wang Ying or Huang Xin? I want an Amnesty and to return to a normal life."

"We could discuss it with them?" Hua Rong pleaded, intent on learning more Archery skills from Subutai, as Subutai had explained the Horse Archers that they had back in Riverside.

....

Whilst they discussed there was a slight disturbance from the front of the now unorganised formation as Tomoe passed through the crowd towards them.

"What is taking so long?" Tomoe asked, ignoring their guests. She was an imposing sight, fully dressed in her battle armour, her twin swords on her waist and her Naginata in her hand. Her Helmet however was strapped to the side of her horse, so her beautiful face was clear to see. "We need to get back soon or we won’t be fresh for tomorrow."

"We are finishing up here." Dom replied jokingly, "Thanks for the reminder."

She bowed her head with a smile and went to turn away, but was stopped by Song Jiang.

"What an imposing and beautiful woman, you would make a good wife for my brother the Stumpy Tiger, Wang Ying, I promised I would find a wife for him." Song Jiang stated politely, however Tomoe did not appreciate this, and squeezed her Naginata tightly.

"Calm down Tomoe." Dom said, moving his horse forwards. "Our guest here meant to compliment you, do not take it the wrong way."

"I am not a gift to be passed to a strangers brother." She replied sternly as she stared Song Jiang down. Subutai appeared at her other side and patted her on the shoulder to get her to stand down. The tension suddenly bubbling from a happy atmosphere.

Song Jiang’s guards had surrounded him during this tension and himself and his twenty horseman were now facing off against Dom’s two hundred Bandits and Military Heroes. Hua Rong was on the side line, having been separated from Song Jiang during the brief disagreement.

...

Suddenly there was the sound of war drums being banged as a large group of Bandits appeared from the direction Song Jiang and Hua Rong had appeared originally, they were led by wolf toothed mace wielding Warrior, closely followed by a sword wielding Warrior who almost danced as he ran.

"Leave Brother Song Jiang alone!" A thunderous roar came from the Wolf Tooth Mace Warrior as he charged forwards aggressively.