Moonchild

    Suyin never considered herself a risk-taker. The fact was, she wasn’t much of one at all - so why was she here in enemy territory, taking the worst kind of risk imaginable?

    It’s not my fault that Emperor’s Respite only grows in Yiliang, she thought, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand as she trudged through the fields. The things I do for love...

    She’d have to exercise caution; being found could mean death at best and capture at worst if she wasn’t careful. All she had to do was gather the herbs and return home quickly. Master Jia Xu was waiting on her-

    Footsteps crunched in the dry weeds nearby.

    Market days were tedious, but all the more so when it was a battle just to be seen. Weaving her way through the crowds along the square, Suyin stopped to catch her breath, the heavy basket of herbs bumping against her hip.

    “Herbs and medicines here!” she called, her voice rising thin and barely audible over the heads of passerby. “Fresh from the field, hand-picked for you!” As others seemed to pass her without noticing, she muttered under her breath- only to pause as she caught the eye of an approaching woman. She brightened in an instant, lifting a hand while she made her way towards her.

The battle was harsher than usual, with many bodies, either wounded or dead, littering the ground. It sucked more when you were the one among the bodies…

Feng Xiu, an officer of Shu, wasn’t hanging onto life, but she was badly wounded from her fight against a strong general of Wei; of course, it had been a familiar face. Her defeat proved she wasn’t still wasn’t strong enough, and knowing her current strength and high determination didn’t help, it hurt her pride.

Her breathing was heavy, and with her eyes closed, she just laid there while bleeding out. ‘I’m not…dying here!’ She thought to herself. Where was Zhao Yun when she needed him? She sensed someone approaching her, but there was no sound of light clanking armor coming towards her. 

Xiu opened her eyes and furrowed her brows once she looked over to the figure. It was a woman; was she an innocent? What was she doing here??

“I…ain’t no mute…” The tone of her voice was a little hostile yet she was too bothered by her bad injury to be more so. “Who are you?”

    Suyin was unperturbed by the woman’s tone; she’d had plenty of patients raise their voice at her before, many of them with far choicer words than this one. She might’ve been an enemy, but something in her kept her kneeling there beside her.

    Besides, she could be useful. A live hostage is better than a dead enemy, after all.

The heat was unbearable today, wasn’t it ? Fortunately, she had brought a parasol to accompany her on her journey to Yuzhang. She found herself going more often trailing down this same path, the same thoughts she wished to escape from surging through her mind. She casts a glance at the scenery surrounding her. Not even the lush flora of Wu prove to be a good enough distraction, if only for a few moments…

How long has it been since Zhou Yu has passed away now, three years perhaps ? The walls of Jianye were no longer fun to stay in, it was no longer bearable to listen to court members bicker - even if for Lord Sun Quan’s sake - and it was all just… so much.

 A sigh escapes without much hesitation on her part. “ Gongjin… “ Her dull, yet unshakable gaze still remained fixated on the nature around her.

And then suddenly- 

She draws her fan out as soon as her ears render the voice calling out behind her back. Turning around she points it at the figure and notices…

A young girl. The fan drops to the ground, leaving small clouds of dusts upon it’s arrival.

“ Oh my god. I’m so sorry I- … are you okay !?”

    Suyin jerks back with a startled yelp as the woman draws her fan, the map flitting from her hands like a startled bird when she raises them defensively. They stay there even after the weapon too has fallen to the ground, her eyes wide in surprise.

    It sounded strange, but Suyin found the battlefield peaceful once the fighting was done. Time seemed to draw itself out there, stretching minutes into hours; all was silent, save for the occasional, strident cry of the wounded or the labored breaths of the dying.

    She scoured the fields for their men, or at least the ones they had a chance of saving. Nothing to see yet, except - no, there was one. Clad in the green of a Shu soldier, they stood out among the dead, but that wasn’t the only thing setting them apart.

    This one was still breathing.

    Frowning, Suyin crept closer to the woman, kneeling a safe distance from her in case she was simply playing dead. She reached a hand out to her, her voice calm and measured.

    “You’ve got to be kidding me...”

    Looking up over the top of her map, Suyin scanned the streets, giving a sigh. It was a fact she’d kept lingering in the back of her mind for several miles now, but one she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge; she was lost.

    Wherever she’d ended up, the heat was unbearable. Gnats lit on the bare nape of her neck, and as she swatted them away, all she wanted now was a chance to get out of her heat and reconsider her options. Spotting a woman, she gathered her nerve and raised a hand to her.

    “Excuse me, ah...Miss? Ma’am? I’m sorry to ask, but...” She paused, queasy embarrassment welling in her stomach. Go on, just say it. If she thinks you’re stupid, that’s her problem.

[Did a little selection of alternate/DLC costumes for Suyin, since her mom already has a bunch of them, and frankly I’m very pleased with how they turned out.