Dom, Subutai and Tomoe quickly appeared through the portal on to a well lit path with clear fields on either side of them. The sun was hot and high in the sky and Dom could feel a bit of sweat trickle down his forehead. Ahead was two large mountains what looked almost like identical mirror images of each other.
"They must be the Reflection Peaks!" Dom exclaimed as he arrived, having filled Tomoe and Subutai in on the full brief whilst they waited for their horses. The three looked like serious warriors on their tall muscular red horses. With their mixture of different armour and weapons, they looked an intimidating sight.
"Let's head in that direction then." Subutai replied, as they decided to travel as a three. They decided to travel at a brisk pace, not quite a sprint, but at a speed much faster than the average horse.
They had only travelled for a few minutes when they heard the sounds of loud drums and gongs in the distance. As they approached, Tomoe got herself in to a position ready to attack, and Subutai prepared his arrows for flight. They came around a slight bend on the pathway and could see an interesting sight ahead of them.
"Keep calm." Dom commanded as they looked ahead.
On the bottom of the left peak appeared a Warrior mounted on a red horse, slightly smaller than the ones in Dom's party. He was wearing red armour and a helmet with three points, on his back was a flower patterned cloak. He was wielding a red painted halberd with a leopard tail dangling loose. Behind him were around one hundred armed men, all wielding swords and spears. The men were all wearing red armour and looked an intimidating site for Bandits.
On the other peak more gongs sounded as a similar situation happened, this time with a man wearing white armour on a stunning white horse, with a silver halberd that had a small chain of coins dangling from the top of it. He was dressed almost identical to the Red Warrior, but all of his items were white instead. Behind him were around one hundred armed men, wearing white armour and holding an assortment of swords and spears.
If not for the fact they were facing off against each other, Dom would be worried they'd be under attack, and even though both Tomoe and Subutai were excellent Warriors, they were severely outnumbered.
"Today I shall defeat you!" The Red Warrior yelled as he charged forwards towards the bottom of the Peaks.
"You are dreaming!" The White Warrior replied as he charged as well.
Both warriors soon clashed, their Halberds creating sparks as they swung them at each other. Again and again the Warriors clashed as the Halberds were brought down against each other. This had happened more than thirty times and the three members of Riverside watched on impressed.
"They have good skills." Tomoe commented seriously, "I wouldn't mind charging in and playing myself."
"No!" Dom commanded, "You will decapitate them, and we are here to recruit not kill!"
"I can't make any promises." Tomoe laughed. "You keep restraining me, I haven't had fun in a long time."
"You can tomorrow." Subutai joked, "You are the Vanguard after all!"
Suddenly the two Halberd's clashed again, but neither of the Warriors could retract them. The Leopard tail and the string of coins that were accessories on both Warriors Halberds got tangled with each other. Rather than fighting against each other, they both just pulled and pulled, with the attempt to dismount their opponent.
"A great opportunity to pull a secondary weapon or throw a punch." Tomoe commented as she watched and commentated.
Suddenly an arrow was let loose and hit both of the accessories, detangling them. Both Warriors who were still pulling, suddenly fell backwards off their horses, clattering loudly on the floor, to a loud cheer and laughter from the Bandits on both sides of the valley.
"Who let loose the arrow?" The Red Warrior said as he got to his feet, not aggressively, but more in amazement.
"It was a one in a million shot!" The White Warrior agreed, probably the first thing they agreed on.
The three from Riverside approached the two Warriors and their men slowly on their large imposing Red Hare Horses. Subutai trotted forwards, showing his small bow in his hands.
"I did." Subutai replied, "I am Subutai, General of Riverside."
"I have never heard of Riverside, but to have a General with aim like you, they are very lucky." The Red Warrior stated. "Who are the others?"
"I am Tomoe Gozen." Tomoe stated as she swung her Naginata in an imposing way, "General of Riverside."
"I dare say, you would defeat both of us." The White Warrior stated seriously, which got a head nod from Tomoe in agreement.
"She could, she has beaten more than can be counted. I am Lord Lazarus." Dom announced, "Leader of Riverside."
"The land is not safe, a Lord should be careful where they are travelling." The Red Warrior stated seriously, with no maliciousness in his voice. "Do you not have a troop nearby to guard you?"
"Two Generals and a Lord alone is rather risky." The White Warrior agreed.
"We are only taking a small journey, but the two of them alone are enough to keep me safe." Dom replied kindly.
"Do you care to rest at our camp before travelling on your way, I am more than happy to escort you through the Valley afterwards." The Red Warrior said politely.
"No, come to my Peak." The White Warrior complained, "My hospitality is better."
"What are your names?" Dom asked, trying to move them on before the competition arrived as per the mission brief. He had a positive feeling towards the two Warriors he had just met and was happy that he had won the Orange Cube, even if they were D Grade.
"I am Lu Fang, I am often compared to Lu Bu the Marquis of Wen. I am often called the Little Marquis." Lu Fang, the Red Warrior replied, "I came here to sell medicine, but corrupt officials made it impossible for me to have success as I wouldn't pay their bribes. Unfortunately I had to come here and become a bandit, but we have grown a small force."
"I am Guo Sheng, I am a mercury trader but my boat capsized and I lost everything. The Government could have helped, but I didn't have the necessary bribes and was cast out. I learnt my Halberd Skills from a successful general and am often compared to the famous general Xue Rengui. People call me the Second Rengui."
"I claimed these Peaks, and this upstart came and wanted to take them off me. I told him he could have one and we could work together. But he was adamant he wanted to defeat me." Lu Fang continued.
"I heard that there was a great Halberd Warrior here, and I wanted to test my skills. We have fought daily but have not yet found a victor." Guo Sheng replied.
"You are both obviously talented men, and good leaders to keep your men in control during constant duels." Subutai stated, "Why have you not joined the Military instead?"
"There is too much corruption and we would be wasted there. We are reluctant bandits, but we do not rob those that are good and decent." Gou Sheng stated seriously.
"Why not join Riverside?" Subutai asked abruptly.
"Do you not also have corrupt officials?" Lu Fang asked.
"We do not, everyone there is a Hero in their own right." Dom replied seriously, realising that prestige was the best way to win these two over. "If you join Riverside you can compete in different ways to see which of you is better."
"I can even show you some new skills." Tomoe teased, doing her part.
"What about our men?" Lu Fang asked seriously.
"They can come as well, they can be paid a good salary and be given a safe home." Dom replied.
"And where is this Riverside?" Guo Sheng asked with a raised eyebrow, having never heard of it, but tempted by the offer.
"A long way from here." Dom replied honestly, "It is a growing place, with lots of opportunity to test your skills. You can make a big difference there."
"Let's go to my peak and have a drink and discuss." Lu Fang said in deep thought.
"Why not mine?" Guo Sheng countered angrily.
"Why not bring your best things here, and we can meet in the middle ground?" Subutai replied, to which both men agreed and quickly departed with their men back to their camps.
"That shot was fantastic!" Dom said seriously to Subutai, "I can't think of a better way of getting their attention."
"Other than Tomoe riding in and beating both of them?" Subutai replied.
"That would have been more enjoyable." She laughed loudly, her voice travelling up the peaks. Both Lu Fang and Guo Sheng unknowingly shivered at the sound.
"Possibly, but there is a chance there wouldn't be two Heroes to recruit." Dom said.
...
Soon both Lu Fang and Guo Sheng returned, their Bandits following with platters of food, and barrels of wine. Dom and Subutai shared a grin at the sight, as both had seemed to have brought a similar amount of similar items.
"Why have you brought a lambs leg?" Lu Fang shouted, "I've brought one already!"
"Well, why have you brought that wine? I've brought the same one!" Guo Sheng argued back.
This continued for a few minutes as the Bandits laid out the food and the five leaders sat around in the centre. The Bandits surrounded the group, whilst Red and White mixed and ate as well.
"I think I have a solution for this." Tomoe said, as she stood up and took out her smaller knife, which led to everyone else shuffling back a step. "Both of you pass me your hands."
They both did reluctantly, worried that she may cause some serious damage to them if they did not.
"I am going to give you both a slight cut, do not move your hands or you may lose them accidently." She stated, as she made a gentle cut in to both of their hands with her sharp blade and then pushed their palms together. "I now declare you sworn brothers, you may not have been born on the same day, but you will be loyal to one another and die on the same day."
"Who was born first?" Subutai asked.
"That would be me." Lu Fang replied, in shock at what had just happened.
"Then you will be the older brother." Dom added, "Guo Sheng, you will be the younger."
"Guo Sheng greets elder brother Lu." Guo Sheng said seriously, with a gentle bow of the head.
"Lu Fent greets younger brother Guo." Lu Fang replied with his own gentle bow of the head.
"That is one problem solved, if you two worked together, you could accomplish great things." Dom said as they both shared a cup of wine to celebrate their new surprise brotherhood. They could have argued it, but both were superstitious and had an unknown fear towards Tomoe in her battle armour.
They both shared a look, before Lu Fang, now the elder brother, spoke. "If you give us opportunity and a none corrupt home, we are happy to join you in Riverside."
"That is a promise I can make." Dom replied seriously, wondering what impact the two Halberd wielding Warriors would have in the upcoming battles.
[Congratulations Warrior Hero Lu Fang Recruited]
[Lu Fang
Hero Grade - D
Hero Strength - Expert Halberd Wielder
Lu Fang was a Liangshan General and known as the Aid Star and was ranked 54th out of the 108 Liangshan Bandit Leaders. He was known for his red armour and his competitiveness against Guo Sheng. In history, he died by drowning in a river.]
[Congratulations Warrior Hero Guo Sheng Recruited]
[Guo Sheng
Hero Grade - D
Hero Strength - Expert Halberd Wielder
Gou Sheng was a Liangshan General and known as the Help Star and was ranked 55th out of the 108 Liangshan Bandit Leaders. He was known for his white armour and his competitiveness against Lu Fang. In history, he died by being crushed by a rock.]
"We'll bring our men as well, we have both spoken with our own men individually and they would like to follow us." Guo Sheng added.
"We would love to have them." Dom stated, "We have some high level Warriors who can train them and give them their own opportunities. We can even keep them as their own units in the future."
"We will get our men to grab all of our key items, including our gold and spare weapons, and we can be ready to depart within the hour." Lu Fang said seriously as he passed on some orders.
"I will have our camp burnt, so as to show that we have no intention to return to this lifestyle." Guo Sheng added, which Lu Fang nodded his head in agreement to.
...
Soon the Camps had been emptied, carts loaded and then the camps burnt. The fires raising almost identically on their high peaks. Dom looked across at the two hundred bandits and his two new heroes, excited to get back to the Military Camp and get some sleep before they departed for Tongpai Town.
As the group began to move eastwards through the peaks, they heard noises behind them. Dom turned and saw a small group of twenty riders travelling at pace, with two lead riders slightly ahead of them. The first one was handsome looking, with plump red lips, a white toothed grin and broad shoulders. The other beside him was slightly older, shorter, with a dark complexion and bird like eyes. The first was armed with a bow, whilst the second with a sword.