The Legends of Lijuan Ai

Summary: She was a traveling performer and she was satisfied with that but a chance meeting with The Hero of Chaos and his men will change everything. Watch as Lijuan Ai makes her mark in history serving under the banner of Wei and show the land that even a woman is capable of great feats.

A/N: Hello everyone! This will be my first fanfic and hope you enjoy it. It's an idea I've been having on my head for a while now, I wanted to wait for DW8 to come out but I just had to write the story now. This story is following the Wei story line of DW7, it also shows that Wei is not always the supposed bad guys as the story mostly does focus on their kingdom.

My OC Lijuan Ai belongs to me as well as the story but I do not own Dynasty Warriors as it belongs to Koei though I created Lijuan Ai at DW7: Empires, so she belongs to me but the parts I used to create her belongs to Koei. XD I plan on posting some pictures of her on my deviantart account if I have time also Xiahou Dun and a few others may be a bit OOC but I will still do my best for their personalities to stick to the original.

The Main Pairing is Lijuan Ai X Xiahou Dun. There will be other mentioned pairings and I might add a few depending how the story goes.

I really think Xiahou Dun needs some love and he's one of my top favorite characters. I would also like to say that I'm not good at describing fight scenes and such so forgive me it some are not so good but either way, I hope you all enjoy the story and some reviews would be appreciated.

Thank you. (^_^)

Chapter 1 – Lady Lotus, No ordinary dancer

"We're almost at our destination it seems." Chen Liu was in her vision growing closer. She petted her beautiful horse, Dark Chaos as they made their way to the gates. As she rode through, she garnered looks of awe, jealousy and desire.

"You behave while I'm at work all right Chaos?" she gently told the horse, it neighed in understanding as they reached the tavern; she got off the horse and lead it to the isolated area at the back. She let him go after getting her satchel and the horse went to the forest to search for food and water. She shook her head smiling and headed to the tavern.

"Ah you're here!" she bowed to the owner, who thankfully was a kind yet strong man and an old friend.

"Yes, forgive me if I was a little late. There was some…interruptions on the way." The owner, Shi Long, frowned but nodded. He could understand, she was an incredibly beautiful woman and she was traveling alone, bandits are sure to attack her unfortunately for them, she was a remarkable fighter and an intelligent woman.

"No injuries?" she shook her head smiling. He grinned.

"Good, the Erhu is in the changing room, you'll also be changing there later tonight as well." She nodded and turned to leave.

"By the way…" she glanced at him, not bothering to turn around. He smirked.

"You better do your best performance, tonight is the night that Lord Cao Cao and two of his officers come here to drink." She smiled a smiled that held mystery.

"I always give my best. You should know that by now after all our traveling performance days." The man chuckled.

"Even as a child you were talented, either way; Good luck Lijuan Ai." She chuckled and continued to her room.

"You are in a good mood." Xiahou Dun had to comment as he, Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan made their way to the Tavern. It was usual for them, a set date where they often just go to the tavern and enjoy themselves to drink, eat and talk.

"I have been hearing news all day from many that there is an incredibly beautiful woman performing at the tavern today." Xiahou Dun rolled his eyes as Xiahou Yuan chuckled. Cao Cao was so predictable when it came to beautiful women.

"I heard about that, she is apparently a good friend of Shi Long; back when he was a traveling performer." Xiahou Yuan added.

"Huh, I think I remember him saying that, it was before he settled here in Chen Liu and built his tavern." Xiahou Dun replied in thought.

"Yeah anyway, I've heard about that news all day; said that the woman was incredible, the tavern has been full ever since she came in." Xiahou Dun rolled his eyes, Yuan nudged him.

"Come on, you can't tell me you're not the least bit curious." Dun had to admit that he was a little curious.

"…I suppose." Cao Cao chuckled as Yuan grinned. They arrived and were surprised at the amount of people in the tavern but once they saw Cao Cao and his men, they gave way and the three men entered; Shi Long saw them and grinned.

"Welcome Lord Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Yuan." He welcomed as he led them to their reserved table which was of course at the front where Lijuan was to perform.

"It's good to see again Long, I heard you have quite the performer today." Cao Cao started. Long grinned.

"Indeed I do, you'll all have the usual yes?" they nodded. He waved for the waitress, who placed their food and drink on the table.

"Her performance is about to start. In the meantime, enjoy." The people inside the tavern were chattering excitedly, hell even though there weren't any seats people still kept piling in choosing to stand just to watch the performance that was to take place.

"Sheesh, look at all this people gathered here. She must be pretty amazing to get this much attention." Yuan had to say, before Dun or Cao Cao could reply, everyone grew silent as musicians lined up at the side of the stage. They waited as they could hear someone approach and once the figure emerged all froze in awe.

"I give you Lady Lotus!" Shi Long introduced.

Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan's eyes widen in shock, so shock that the cup on Dun's hand's slipped from his finger and fortunately, it didn't break nor tip over as his hand wasn't far from the table and the meat bun on Yuan's hand fell.

The Woman that stood before them all was indeed incredibly beautiful. Her hair was long reaching her waist and was black as ebony yet shined like silk, her skin was white and flawless as ivory, her body was perfection and had curves in the right places, her lips a beautiful shade of rose pink but her most eye catching feature was her eyes which were an amazing shade of gold that shined like the stars.

"Wow…" Yuan had to say. The music played and all watched mesmerized as she began to dance, her movements' fluid and elegant. The way her hair and clothe flowed by her movements was amazing to see, how pure and serene her face was as she danced to the music.

Lijuan opened her eyes meeting the eyes of Xiahou Dun, they locked for a moment before she closed them again as she continued her performance.

The only one not mesmerized was Shi Long, who was smirking in amusement at everyone's dazed expression.

'Lijuan always did have that effect on people.' He chuckled and watched on. It wasn't long the finale came and Lijuan Ai ended her performance with a graceful bow. The whole place went wild with cheers, whistles and praise, even Cao Cao and the Xiahou men were clapping. She smiled that practically made the men go wild before departing.

"That was amazing!" Yuan said in awe. Cao Cao nodded.

"Who was that?" Xiahou Dun couldn't help but say as he looked at the direction where she left. Cao Cao and Yuan noticed and looked at each other before turning back to him.

"We can ask Shi Long." Yuan turned but found Shi Long gone.

"He must have gone to talk to her." Xiahou Dun had grown silent; Cao Cao and Yuan once again exchanged looks at seeing him in thought.

"Such a beautiful dance…" Lijuan stopped for a moment to smile at hearing the whispering voices before she continued placing her things in her satchel, it was late now. Her hair was back to it's Dowager style and she hid thin knives within; she went behind a curtain and changed into her dancer top with dancer sleeves, heavenly skirt and heavenly shoes. The whole outfit was blue with gold trims, jewellery above her knees.

"Ai?" she got out the curtain to see Shi Long, she smiled.

"How was my performance?" she asked smiling, he laughed.

"Breath taking as always. You took everyone's breathe away." She chuckled. He handed her some tea and meat buns which she accepted gratefully.

"I'll stay here for a bit but I'll be leaving later." He leaned on the door.

"You sure you can't stay for tonight. It'll be dangerous to travel this late." She smiled.

"Trust me Shi Long, I've traveled in much harsher times. I can take care of myself well." He nodded, he knew that but he could worry right?

"All right, I'll leave you to rest then. Here is your payment, I added a little extra for drawing such a huge crowd and bringing in the gold." Shi Long winked as he handed her a pouch, she accepted it grateful before he left to tend to his customers, Lijuan sighed at the current peace she had. She quietly ate the meal provided to her, washing it all down with the tea. She had seen Cao Cao immediately, the man certainly stood out; there were two men with him and strangely enough, her eyes fell on the one beside Cao Cao, the man that she locked eyes with.

"I wonder…who was that man?" she pondered, there was something about him, something that drew her to him. She shook her head and took out her book from her satchel, The Art of War by Sun Tzu; she had already read the book many times and learned well from it but it was her favorite and she continued to read it over again regardless how worn it looked now.

It wasn't long that Lijuan decided that it was time for her to depart, the hustle outside had grown less. It was time for her to leave. She placed her book in her satchel, touching her whip inside just in case. She opened the door and looked to see very few people, all eyes fell on her form and she noticed that Cao Cao and his two men were still there. Her eyes landed on him again, they stared at each other for a brief moment, before she gracefully walked passed them with a smile.

"Whoa, I think she likes you Dun." Yuan whispered teasing, Dun kept his eyes on her; he couldn't believe what she was wearing, it showed so much skin. His eyes narrowed as she saw some men from the further table get up and follow her. There were about 6 of them and they looked quite roguish, most probably were bandits or the sort. He clenched his fist and moved to get up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to Cao Cao, who also looked serious.

"It's time for us to go Shi Long." Cao Cao placed the gold at the table which Shi Long thanked him for and watched as they left to follow the men after Lijuan. Shi Long smirked.

"You are something special Lijuan. You will go far."

Lijuan knew she was being followed but continued on to where she left Dark Chaos; she arrived there and waited for him to come at the same time waiting for those men.

"You really gave a good show there girl." One of the men sneered in glee; Lijuan stood her back to them as if she didn't hear them. There were six of them, judging from the shadows.

"Yeah, how about coming with us? We'll show you lots of fun." She remained unmoving. Cao Cao and the two arrived, Xiahou Dun moved to intercept but Cao Cao stopped him. He looked at Cao Cao in anger.

"Wait. Look." He did so and they were surprised on how calm she was.

"Hey! You listening bitch!" Dun felt his blood boil when they called her that but then felt confusion on why he felt it so.

"Sorry, I don't listen to fools." She answered back calmly. Her voice made them freeze even Cao Cao and the two; it was so alluring and melodic. The men realized what she said and sneered.

"Wench! We'll take you by force if we have too!" she glanced and smirked taunting them. Her smirk was definitely the hottest thing Dun had seen. Arg! There goes his mind again!

"Come." She taunted and they charged at her weapons drawn. She half turned and grasped something in her satchel and pulled it out. Cao Cao and the Xiahou's watched wide eyed at the sight of the weapon.

With a crack of her whip, the men faltered and she took this chance; she slashed and sent her whip flying, hitting the 3 men on their necks instantly killing them, she did a spin as she hit the other on the chest, she flipped back to avoid the other's attack. She snapped her whip around the man's ankles and slammed him three times on the ground before throwing him to the ground, slashing his neck. She turned to the last one, who backed away wide eyed. Lijuan smirked.

"Pathetic." She cracked her whip diagonally, cutting the man's shoulder and going down to his stomach. He fell to the ground dead. She sighed, snapping her whip of blood but tensed when she felt that there was still someone here. She readied her whip before her and she turned to where Cao Cao and the Xiahou stood watching impressed.

"Show yourself." she demanded calmly, Cao Cao chuckled and revealed himself and the two followed; Lijuan's eyes widen a bit before raising a brow, she didn't let her guard down still.

"That was impressive I must say. You have quite the skill." Lijuan let her whip rest to the side but was still tense.

"You are…Cao Cao yes?" Cao Cao smiled.

"Indeed and these are my cousins and most trusted men. Xiahou Yuan."

"Hey there! Nice show back there by the way." She blinked at the happy response but nodded.

"And Xiahou Dun." Xiahou Dun simply looked at her and she looked back.

"I…I am Lady Lotus but my true name is Lijuan Ai." Why did she stutter, this…Xiahou Dun made her insides squirm. She didn't even know why she revealed her true name so easily.

"Lijuan Ai…a lovely name for a lovely woman." Lijuan looked at the side at Cao Cao's praise, she was used to such words but still this was coming from a man like Cao Cao, she is a bit weary.

"Oh, thank you. Was there something you needed from me?" she asked curious.

"Yes, you have incredible talent my dear and I am asking you if you would like to join my army." Lijuan looked at Cao Cao in surprise as did Yuan and Dun.

"Cousin-" Dun started but Cao Cao raised a hand.

"Come now Dun, even you can see that she has skill and talent." Xiahou Dun went silent and looked at her. She watched him.

"…For a woman, she does." Yuan resisted the urge to face palm and Cao Cao almost sighed if it weren't for the fact that Lijuan's musical chuckle graced their ears. She really was a sight to see, laughing like that.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to laugh. It's just that…you are the first person to ever ask me to join an army due to my skill." This perked their interest.

"You have been asked by others?" Cao Cao asked. She smiled.

"Yes, I have been asked by Yuan Shao but he wanted me to also marry him. The same could be said by Gongzun San but he wanted me to marry his son. I also had the most unlucky encounter with a…man named Dong Zhuo, the man is a pig reincarnated." They blinked before Cao Cao laughed.

"It seems you are a desirable woman Lijuan Ai. Even Yuan Shao who speaks highly of nobility would even ask for your hand." She continued to smile.

"It seems so. But I declined them and left, I must say it was quite fun to escape from them." they looked at her wide eyed as she chuckled.

"They chased you down?" Yuan asked surprised.

"They did, I gave them the slip you could say."

"And what of my proposal?" Lijuan looked at Cao Cao, her expression turned serious.

"If I decline?" he closed he's eyes for a moment.

"It would be quite a shame truly but it's your decision and I will respect it." She looked at Cao Cao as if she was studying him before she smiled.

"I will join you." Cao Cao brightened.

"Wonderful!" Yuan and Dun blinked, wondering what just happened.

"You will come with us back at the castle." Cao Cao said as she placed her whip back at her satchel.

"I may bring my horse yes?" Cao Cao blinked.

"Of course, where is your steed?" she smiled and turned to the forest.

"Dark Chaos, come." They watched wide eyed as a large majestic and beautiful horse emerged. Its coat black yet the mane looked dark blue and looked almost as if it was glowing and on blue fire, its saddle were a match to Lijuan's outfit; Blue with trimmings of gold. She approached it, gently rubbing its head before taking reins and walked towards them.

"What a beautiful horse." Cao Cao had to say in marvel as she grew close, they noticed that the horse oddly enough had shining blue eyes. It was odd truly just like it's mistress who had gold eyes.

"Shall we be going my lord?" she asked with a smile, Cao Cao chuckled. They turned and led the way with Cao Cao walking beside her and engaging in small talk while Yuan went to Dun's side.

"You've been oddly quiet, what's on your mind Dun?" Xiahou Dun looked at Lijuan as she talked with Cao Cao.

"…Nothing Yuan." She noticed him staring at her, she glanced at him and smiled; He felt his stomach churn and his cheeks burn, he looked away.

"Nothing at all." Yuan glanced between the two before grinning, he saw Cao Cao smile in amusement as well at this development. Looks like things were about to get interesting with Lijuan Ai in their army.

= Chen Liu Castle =

"Would it be all right that I bring my steed to the stables my lord?" Lijuan spoke up.

"Of course, Xiahou Dun will show you the way and he will also bring you to your room." Dun looked on surprise, Yuan grinned.

"Where is her new room my lord?" Yuan asked; he already knew just where Cao Cao was going to put her in.

"It's the room next to yours Xiahou Dun, have a good night Lijuan Ai and we shall talk more tomorrow." She bowed and Cao Cao followed by Yuan went in. The two were left alone and Dun wanted to chase them down for throwing this at him so suddenly.

"The stables are this way, follow me." She smiled at him which made his stomach flip again. They walked side by side in silence. They arrived at the stables and Lijuan led Dark Chaos to one of the empty one's at the end and a bit father from other horses.

"You stay put and behave all right Chaos?" the horse neighed and nuzzled her making her chuckle; the sight was quite adorable Dun had to admit. He froze. Adorable? Ugh.

"Are you all right Lord Xiahou Dun?" she asked, he sighed.

"Fine, just…tired." she frowned.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time, let us be off. Good night Chaos." The horse neighed again and Lijuan left with Xiahou Dun. Again as they walked it was quiet and awkward much to Dun's growing irritation.

"It's fine." Lijuan blinked looking up at him.

"My…lord?" he looked at her and again their eyes met before they looked away. They stopped in front a door.

"This will be your room from now on, if you need anything I will be next door. Good night." He turned and headed to his room.

"Good night Lord Xiahou Dun." He heard as he entered his room, he stopped to glance but thought better of it and simply closed his door. Lijuan entered hers and found that she liked the room, a little personal touches and it would be perfect.

"I didn't think I would end up serving Cao Cao…after so many years of travelling and performing." She smiled and set her satchel down; she pulled out her sleeping attire and got changed. She pulled off the pins in her hair, brushing it before heading to bed.

Tomorrow begins her new life as an officer of Cao Cao.

End of Chapter 1

I hope you all enjoyed the first Chapter and a little heads up, I'll be doing a time skip on the next chapter of about two years as I want to begin the story to the main route where the war is about to begin and Dark Chaos will further be explained in the next Chapter. Again, I would like to thank anyone who has read my story and hopefully enjoyed it and I'll be posting the next chapter soon. (^_^)