Flame Of Wu

~Betrayed~

Lu Mei walked out from her room, stretching her arms as she headed over to the village. Passing through the forest, she remembered back to the first time Gan Ning walked alongside her when they were headed to the main camp. As she entered the village, some passerbys stared at her and spoke to eachother secretively, casting glances to her ever so often. Lu Mei tensed, feeling subjected to trouble.
"Its the new general!" A child's voice called out, and several children ran up to her with excitement in their eyes. She smiled and spoke with the children as they piled question after question. 

"ALRIGHT QUIT HARASSING HER!" An all too familiar voice boomed out and the children ran off, the youngest one sticking her tongue out at him before following the other kids. "Ah! What are you doing here?" Lu Mei asked, startled by Gan Ning. "I followed you to see what you were doing!" He spoke, grinning. She sighed and turned away from him. "Don't you have something to do?"

"No, that's why I came. Are you..." Lu Mei nodded softly and cut in before he could finish his sentence, "I was looking for a certain place, that's all." "Which sort of place?" "Well... I prefer not to tell you. It's my little secret." She smiled and walked off, clearly gaining Gan Ning's interest. "Awe come on! Can't you give me a hint?" He followed her as she walked. She shook her head, keeping her lips shut despite the grin that showed on her face. Gan Ning grumbled in fustration and pondered to himself.

A stomping of hooves were heard approaching before a large, red horse runs into the clearing, scaring the villagers away. "Is that-"

"RED HARE!"

Lu Mei finished Gan Ning's sentence and ran towards the horse. It reared back and neighed as Lu Mei tried to calm it down. After several attempts and being scared back with each failure, she eventually calmed it down by placing her hand on its muzzle. It knickered softly and hung its head down, lightly pawing the ground. "Your safe now, I'm here." She whispered softly and petted its side. She cast a soft look to Gan Ning before getting on it and started riding it out of the village, heading for a more sceneic route towards the camp.

Gan Ning stayed back as Lu Mei started off, in awe of her ability to calm Red Hare, the same horse ridden on by Lu Bu. It wasn't too surprising, considering the fact she was Lu Bu's daughter, but still, 'How does she do it???' He walked towards the beach, needing some time to clear his mind and his rush of emotion.

Red Hare's pace was slowing as they neared the mountainside, the same spot her father took her to. Settling in the fields, she got off of it and petted its side. Red Hare knickered again and started to run circles around her, bucking every now and then. Lu Mei smiled as she remembered the first time they played...

~~~~~~~~~~~~MEMORY~~~~~~~~~~~~

She cried softly as some of the village children walked off, laughing as they threw a few more rocks her way. She looked around slowly in the new place and smelled something that she hasn't caught before. It wasn't anything like the castle but it was calming. Looking around, she walked down the hall and looked up as animals with weird heads peered over the door. Confused, she reached her hand up and flinched back as she felt their breath on her tips. Lu Mei stopped at the last stall and no head appeared.

Curious, she climbed up and looked to see a door in the small room was open to a field. Jumping over she walked into the field and saw some fencing with a scarlet red animal running about and bucking, snorting as it ran. She was so transfixed, something inside her tingled as she imagined what it would be like to fly around and opened her eyes to see an aura around her as she flapped her newly shifted wings. She fell several times before managing to hover a few feet from the ground. The animal stopped running and walked over to her, transfixed.

Using a bit of strength, she glided forward and swerved away from it, dropping again and turning back into a human. Its ears were forward as it stepped closer to her, very interested in her. Lu Mei raised her hand to try and keep it from hurting her but was surprised when it pressed its muzzle against it and knickered.

"Mei?! What are you doing in there?!" She turned back to see her mother with a shocked expression on her face. Diao Chan hurried over and picked her up, taking her to the castle. Afterwards, she found out the animal was a horse, and it was her father's nonetheless. She snuck out every now and then to play with Red Hare, shifting into a Phoenix each time.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF MEMORY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-I don't know friend." Red Hare neighed and continued bucking, not accepting her refusal. Lu Mei let out a hushed growl and raised her hands, "Alright! Alright, you win!" Red Hare nodded his head and trotted over to her, nudging her shoulder with his nose. Lu Mei then took a breath in and dashed forward, jumping and shifting into the fiery bird. Red Hare ran alongside her as she flew, the sun shining high above them. Eventually, she flew back down and shifted back with a grin that she had not felt ever since her father's death. Red Hare walked over to her and laid his head on her shoulder, letting out a deep breath out. "I needed this." She whispered softly as she wrapped her arms around its neck.

Night soon came around, the forest and sky in different shades of blue, violet, and black. Red Hare calmly walked aside her as they headed for the camp. As they walked, Lu Mei felt something strange lingering around them. Red Hare began to paw at the ground, sensing it as well. They halted, staying alert for anything dangerous that could come close to them. The bushes started rustling and suddenly, a group of men surrounded her and Red Hare. Before she could react, the men pinned her down onto the ground and muzzled Red Hare, who was rearing and whinnying defiantly. 

"About time! Now boys, go easy with her- someone else needs her." The trainee from the camp with short brown hair walked out from the direction of the camp and smiled down at Lu Mei. "What?! Why?!" Lu Mei sputtered, dumbfounded. "Did you really think you were going to just walk in here and make a name for yourself?? You made the rest of us look like fools and to be frank; a daughter of a bastard doesn't deserve this life. So now I've made a little deal with some special people in Wei and the item needed was just you." She smiled innocently despite the bitter hatred seeping in her voice. "Take her away boys, and take the horse to Shu. Call it a gift." Lu Mei struggled against the men, growling and kicking as she did so and jostling the men about as they struggled with keeping a grip on her. "Just get her still!" The girl spat quietly and then laughed softly as she cast one more look at Lu Mei. "Bye bye~" She cooed as a blunt force knocked her out.