East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

“It’s for the people… and those poor solders are and were people,” Sun Jian continued. “They’re doing for themselves and their families, not for a small group of corrupt autocrats in Luoyang. If the Yellow Turbans win, they’ll kill or persecute anyone that doesn’t want to live the way they want to live: that means us, that means our families. If we don’t stop them, what are we living for…? …So don’t accuse me of being reckless and mad for doing what we expect a lot of other people to do day after day, alright…? If Commander Zhu hadn’t recommended us as officers, we’d be ‘worthless southern conscripts’ and doing it under instruction from someone else eventually anyway.”
Cheng Pu sighed heavily and said, “Alright, Wentai. I can’t argue with that.”
“I should, but… well… I won’t tell my sister how you really died if you do,” Wu Jing chortled. “I’ll say you were killed in a duel with their commander.”
“You tell her the truth, Wu Jing, if the worst happens,” Sun Jian insisted. “Any death here is as meaningful and terrible as another… I won’t have you belittling the other men’s fates by pretending that it wasn’t mine.”
After a long silence, Zu Mao said, “When?”
“Tonight,” Sun Jian replied. “I want this nonsense over with. Once I’m gone, inform Commander Zhu and have the men ready.”
Wu Jing, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai nodded obediently.
“…You’re going to take that ‘lucky scarf’ of yours off to do this, right?” Zu Mao said mischievously.
“Unfortunately, Zu Mao, they’re not ‘Red Turbans’… so yes,” Sun Jian chuckled.

That night, two men made their way toward the walls of Wan City under cover of darkness with a scaling ladder. The city walls were sparsely defended in comparison to daylight, and the defenders were less than vigilant. As they reached the dry moat, the two men - Sun Jian and Zu Mao - wrinkled their noses in reaction to the smell of festering bodies in the defensive pit.

“I’m glad we don’t have to go in there,” Zu Mao whispered.
“It’s where we’ll end up if we get this wrong,” Sun Jian replied. “Remember: any problems, go back if you can.”
“How?” Zu Mao snickered.
“…Yeah,” Sun Jian replied dolefully. “Yeah, you’re as dead as I am. Why did you volunteer for this?”
“Because I reckon I’m as nutty as you are,” Zu Mao said with amusement. “C’mon, boss… let’s do this.”
Sun Jian nodded, and the two lifted the ladder so that they could lower it over the pit. The defenders missed this initial act, and the process of passing the moat began. Sun Jian crossed first; as he crossed, he observed the faint outlines of the corpses below, and grimaced at the thought of how they died. Occasionally, a faint moan could be heard in the quiet of the night, which confirmed a grim truth - somewhere in that sea of corpses in the moat, men were buried alive under their comrades and would slowly waste away without assistance.
“Heaven can be cruel,” Sun Jian murmured as he continued his journey.
Once Sun Jian had crossed, Zu Mao began his own journey; Sun Jian alternated his gaze between the moat and the walls and silently prayed that the men atop the walls would fail to spot his friend as he shimmied along the ladder without any protection save his clothing, leather chest plate and leather helmet. But Zu Mao did make it across; at that point, both men took a deep breath and hoped that the next step - which would surely be discovered - would be survived by both of them.
“Okay… now!” Sun Jian whispered, and the two men hoisted the ladder to the wall.

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