I try to focus but everything's twisted

[800isenough]

[The warrior does not fear death.

That much Zhang Liao is confident about. No matter the odds against him, he knows with iron clad certainty that death's threats and mocking tones fall on deaf ears.

And yet there is something still that trembles within his being. He isn't scared of dying, for that is part of the path of a warrior, and he accepts. But what gnaws at him, like a small but steady drill that slowly but surely chips at a chink in his diamond-hard resolve...it cannot be described with words, but can only be felt with his heart. And in matters of the heart, Zhang Liao has no mastery of them at all. He had thought himself stronger than this, and it's both painful and loathsome to him to stand outside the door and knock three times.

But the whispers of his conscience has turned into a roar, and he can no longer bury and deny them. Not when they are buried with the screams of the dead and departed.

Zhang Liao knocks and announces himself to the one man that could give him the clarity he seeks.]

Master Chen Gong. Pardon me for this intrusion but may I have a few words with you?

Comments

[failednamesake]

[It's funny, how Zhang Liao is trying to seek clarity from the man who's seeing muddied stars for the first time in years.

The path ahead is in shambles. As the strategist, Chen Gong's job is to see the way to victory. To notice the hurdles no one else can, and to take the short cuts no one else realizes are there. He has burning ambition, and the burning will serve as the guiding light for Lu Bu.

So why isn't he listening? How can a man have such power, such strength, and not possess an ounce of rationality? He must've joined Dong Zhuo for a reason, right? He must've killed him for one too! His actions don't make sense. Everything doesn't add up.

(Because people are not fixed, rational things. Like battles, and how fast an arrow flies.) Chen Gong winces as there's the sound of knocking- and he won't attempt to keep the fact that he's annoyed a secret.

It's clear in his voice as he opens the door.] Yes, what is it, Master Zhang Liao?