The first thing Hua Mulan noticed upon riding into Guifei village on Coursing River was the scent of fear that lingered in the air. Such a thing was palpable, especially in such a small settlement like Guifei, which was only a hundred strong during a fruitful season. Its denizens shuffled hurriedly through their daily tasks, kept idle chatter to a minimum, or simply didn't leave their homes. It was only when Mulan rode into its usually bustling market square that she caught sight of people, but their presence was light and fleeting. Whatever had these people so worried definitely warranted Mulan's presence.
Mulan did not venture into Guifei often. While she swore to protect its people since leaving the emperor's army after the war, she refused to mingle with the people, if only to give herself room to breathe. She didn't do well in crowds. Her previous engagements in Misthaven only strengthened these reclusive traits.
However, that morning, Mulan had been visited by Ho Jian, one of the boys from the village, bearing a message from the Chief Yao Peizhi of Guifei. They had requested an audience with her concerning urgent matters. Before Mulan could further interrogate her visitor, the boy had run back to the village, his small braid swinging with the frantic beat of his sandaled feet. Mulan could see now that his actions were not so uncommon.
It was only when Mulan reached the Chief Yao's chamber and was greeted by him that she was finally given an explanation.
"Another Yaoguai?" Mulan asked with a frown.
"Unfortunately, yes," said Chief Yao. The sweltering heat of the summer morning had him perspiring excessively, leading him to dab at his pudgy, pink face every couple of minutes. "There have been multiple sightings of it outside our village."
Which was impossible, given the fact that the last time the Yaoguai disrupted the village it was really a bewitched prince. As far as Mulan was concerned, Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora were happily married and expecting.
As a way of distracting herself from this train of thought, Mulan probed. "What did this beast look like? Did your sources give descriptions?"
"They claim that it is a black creature with glowing blue eyes and big teeth," replied the chief. He dabbed at his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief and added, "It hasn't hurt anyone yet, but it's causing quite the stir. Trade simply cannot go on with a beast patrolling the walls and scaring off merchants."
Trade was of utmost importance to Guifei, what with it being near the main artery of the trade route that slithered from the empire to the Enchanted Forest. Without the help of travelling merchants both from the mainland and from Misthaven, Guifei's economy would surely stagnate and collapse. The last time Prince Phillip was here, trade was put on hold for several weeks. The shortage of certain goods was only balanced out by the Yaoguai's penchant for shaving off a good portion of the population. It was a good time for no one except the foreign merchants who were trapped in the village and saw the tragedy as a good time to inflate their prices.
"I'm guessing you want me to investigate?" asked Mulan.
"You slayed the last Yaoguai, did you not?" asked Chief Yao. His thick white eyebrows rose on a heavily wrinkled forehead in bemusement. "I regret to ask for your assistance again, but the situation is proving dire."
"It was not by my hand," Mulan corrected, "but I'll do my best to find this beast."
This seemed to satisfy the Chief Yao who thanked her before giving her the names of the sources so that she could question them herself. More than anything, Mulan wished to get started on this new mission. Since she had parted ways with Red and Dorothy and returned to Guifei, she had made a point of keeping busy with the most mundane of tasks. Guifei was a very profitable village and made enough surplus to provide Mulan with required necessities such as rice, millet, wheat, and even eggs and radish if they were feeling especially generous. This left Mulan to do nothing more than cook, eat, and sleep, with disconcerting gaps of free time in between. She took to whittling wood into various images to pass the time; it was brain-deadening work, something that she felt she needed lest she relapsed into the misery that came with the peace of self-imposed isolation.
This new task would finally give Mulan something new to do. Outside of the Yaoguai issue a few years ago, Guifei was a relatively safe settlement. After all, the presence of a war-rugged soldier made it so.
For most of the day, Mulan started tracking this great black beast. Not surprisingly, it was much harder to find than the original Yaoguai which was several feet tall and often left ashes and open flames in its wake. However, Mulan could at least work on the accounts of the villagers; the Yaoguai made a point of eating or severely maiming his witnesses, so Mulan tackled the previous objective a little more blindly.
With this newest mark, Mulan relied on information given to her: the beast only dwelled at night and it made a point of circling the village border, but never entering. It was only a matter of time, the fearful witnesses said, before it would attack, as most wild predators do.
Mulan promised to find the beast.
Going on their accounts, she found that, indeed, there were several breaks in the natural pattern all around the village. Kicked up pebbles, broken twigs, jagged claw marks on the trees. The most striking clue was the absolute silence. In the thick of Guifei's greenery, one was awash in the sounds of chittering birds, skittering woodland creatures, and mournful shrieks of cicadas. When Mulan explored the forest, she could hear nothing but the whisper of windblown leaves and the scratching of branches overhead. In the far distance, there was the cry of a lone raven, but nothing more. Clearly, this was an apex predator to have scared off most of the wildlife away from their habitats.
When night fell, Mulan stood by the gates of Guifei and waited. She had her sword by her hip and her bow strapped to her back. She wore her chainmail helmet and the black reinforced leather armor, shoulders squared and eyes trained on a point in the distance as she listened for any potential disturbances in the quiet that often befell the night.
She waited for two hours. By this time, the people of Guifei had turned in for the night. This thought made Mulan breathe easy; now, it was just her and the beast.
Mulan was seated now with a block of wood and a dagger in hand. She attempted to carve out a semblance of a bird in flight, though it came out sort of clunky looking. She cut with the grain, just as her father would tell her shortly before she went off to war at the age of fourteen. Regardless of the more effortless glide of knife over wood, her carving did not come out quite like she pictured in her head.
This was when Coursing River reared up on his hind legs and whinnied in agitation. Mulan startled and, within a breath, she was on her feet with her hand tensed on the handle of her half-unsheathed jian sword. Her gaze wandered before it fell on a pair of blue eyes gleaming from among the clusters of trees just a few metres away.
Coursing River snorted and, though he shook violently and shuffled so much that he kicked up dirt, he did not flee. As expected of a war horse.
There was a showdown. Mulan stood stiffly, not even daring to breathe too harshly lest she provoked the beast. Minutes passed before the thing approached on quiet feet. Shards of moonlight suggested a hulking figure with black fur. It was majestic in its beastly appearance.
Mulan took in a deep breath when the animal finally moved into the open. She was struck by the sheer size of it as well as the size of its bared fangs. It was clearly on the defensive. If it decided to attack, Mulan would not stand a chance against it.
Which was why she prayed that her next actions wouldn't get her killed.
"Red?" she said. "Is that you?"
The beast's demeanour very suddenly shifted; it went from snarling at her to closing its mouth and straightening its posture. Its eyes were searching. Mulan stayed still. Finally, the beast hesitantly put a paw forward, as if in suggestion. Mulan nodded slowly and the beast took one step forward. Then another. Mulan watched until it was just a few feet away. It sniffed the ground at Mulan's feet. Mulan knew this to be judgment and she waited patiently for the beast to come up with a verdict. Coursing River whinnied louder, spooked now by the beast's proximity, but Mulan shushed him as she held on to his reins. Surprisingly, the beast barely faltered at Coursing River's antics as it continued to assess Mulan.
Apparently, Mulan passed. The animal shifted into a sitting position and docilely bowed its head. That was when it underwent a change. It was swift and had Mulan blinked she would have missed it, but she watched as the animal went from being a massive, black creature to a beautiful young woman.
Mulan smiled. "You certainly make an entrance."
"Did you expect any less?" asked Red with a radiant smile of her own. Apologetically, she smiled at Coursing River and said, "Sorry for scaring your horse."
"He doesn't mind," said Mulan.
Red rose to her feet and closed the distance between her and Mulan with a hug. Mulan stiffened in Red's hold, but Red pulled away with that same smile. If she noticed Mulan's hesitance, she didn't speak of it. Instead, she fingered the mesh of Mulan's helmet and laughed, "Nice helmet."
"It protects against enemy fire," Mulan huffed. "Every imperial soldier has one."
"Yeah," Red muttered as she moved to remove the helmet, "but then no one gets to see your pretty face."
Mulan's throat constricted at this description and so choked on whatever she was going to say next. She was thus powerless when Red slid off her helmet to observe it with clinical curiosity. It only lasted a moment because she handed it back to Mulan who grabbed it from her without hesitation.
"So. This is Guifei?" said Red as she looked past Mulan.
It took a moment for Mulan to realize that Red was speaking of the settlement behind the gates. She said, "Yes. I'm currently protecting this village from you, as a matter of fact."
At this, Red's pink cheeks darkened to a shade just one off from her cloak. Speaking of which, its absence was quite glaring at the moment.
"Where is your cloak, Red?" asked Mulan.
Sheepishly, Red said, "In the woods. I know I should keep it on, but I was just going on a run. I swear I'll put it back on, if it makes you feel better."
"It would," Mulan said with a raised eyebrow. "It would probably scare the villagers less, too."
"Sorry about that," Red muttered as she ventured back into the copse of trees. Mulan mounted Coursing River and followed. "It's just...my senses are at their peak when I'm the wolf. I figured that I could smell you out in wolf form. I knew you were in the village, but when I got here last night I couldn't quite catch your scent. I circled the village hoping I'd get it, but then I heard people yelling, so I ran off."
"You really gave people here a scare," Mulan chastised, but her heart wasn't in it. She was too distracted by the fact that Red actually sought her out at all.
Mulan was always reclusive and made sure to set herself apart from others. It came with masquerading as a man for twelve years in the army, she supposed, but she knew that, even before that, she much preferred isolation. Such an attitude did not attract many friends.
Princess Aurora was closest to being Mulan's friend, but Mulan had since cut off all communication with her. She made it impossible for Aurora to find her. Not that she would, what with Prince Phillip and her newborn taking up her attention.
Mulan had only known Red for a month or so and yet she came all the way here to find her. It left Mulan with an extraordinary feeling.
"Maybe I like scaring people," Red said with a smirk. At Mulan's disapproving frown, she laughed and added, "Take it easy. It was a joke."
"I suggest working on your sense of humour," Mulan groused.
It took a couple more minutes, but Red finally got her cloak from between a pair of trees with branches that interlocked overhead. While Mulan wouldn't say it out loud, it made her breathe easier to see Red in her trademark cloak again. She motioned for Red to follow suit and said, "Get on. I'll show you where I live."
"You don't live in the village?" Red asked as she easily hopped on and sidled in comfortably behind Mulan.
"No," Mulan replied. She squeezed Coursing River's haunches with her legs and he went at a steady pace through the trees. As an afterthought, Mulan said, "I prefer to live alone."
Red hummed as if she understood, though they both knew she didn't. After all, Red had traversed realms just to find others of her kind. Mulan was more likely to traverse realms to get away from other people.
The hut was a mile away, so it took about ten minutes arrive at the quaint wooden house that stood in a small clearing. This had originally belonged to a general from years ago who sometimes escaped to the countryside to ponder the verses of Xu Wei. After his death, the hut was left to rot until Mulan was given permission to take it when she first arrived to Guifei. She had since refurbished it, but it still held a deathly aura, especially in the night when it was surrounded by dark arcades of trees that blocked almost all moonlight from filtering through.
"So, this is where you live?" Red asked as Mulan tethered Coursing River to a post outside the shed. She opened the door and walked inside.
"Yes," Mulan said as she walked over to the end of the hut in two steps where she bowed down and lit the candles there so that the fire would stave off the night cold and shed light on the small hut. Mulan never much cared to tend to the hut and now that she had a visitor, she was suddenly mindful of the messy cot in the corner, the pile of books cluttered next to it, the squat table that held a stack of papers, a pot of ink, and her many wood carvings. They held an air of malice in the dim, flickering candle light.
"I wasn't expecting visitors," Mulan added with a note of apology. Red, however, didn't seem to mind as she wandered inside. Mulan closed the door behind them.
"It's so...you," Red said as her eyes wandered over to the wood carvings, something that Mulan had silently hoped she wouldn't notice so soon. She bent over and inspected them closer before she said, "I didn't know you carved!"
"As a pastime," Mulan replied as she stood by, paralyzed in her helplessness.
"They're beautiful," Red mumbled as she delicately picked up the one depicting a wolf. "I don't think I ever told you this, but I used to make jewellery."
"Did you?" Mulan asked as she finally moved closer.
"Not here," Red added hastily. Her thumb glided over the snout of the wolf with something akin to reverence. "In the other realm. I stopped after the first curse broke."
"Why is that?" Mulan asked. Red's eyes dulled slightly and her smile faded. Thinking she said the wrong thing, Mulan opened her mouth to tell Red that she didn't have to answer when Red spoke.
"Do you...do you remember when I told you that I ate my only boyfriend?" Red asked. She set down the wolf statuette between the small figurine of a long-haired woman in a shawl and that of a hooded woman painted red. She turned to face Mulan who could only nod dumbly. "Well, the first curse erased all memories of that past. So, when the curse broke and I got those memories back, I had to...relive that trauma. Sort of. I used to make all these wolf trinkets—necklaces, rings, key chains— and I used to see it as this thing I liked doing, but when I remembered where all that came from, I just couldn't continue with it."
"I'm sorry," Mulan said. She could think of nothing else to say to that and, really, what was there to say? Thankfully, this seemed to be enough for Red who cracked a strained smile and shook her head.
"It's fine," Red said though, to Mulan, it didn't sound all that fine. "Anyway, your statues just reminded me of that. Making jewellery, I mean, not eating my ex."
"It's never too late to return to it," Mulan said.
"It wouldn't be the same," Red said with a sad smile. "Trust me."
After this, they tumbled into a thick silence. Mulan quickly busied herself with putting away her weapons as Red continued to scan her environment in quiet consideration. It was a couple of minutes before Mulan broke the silence.
"I'm sorry I'm not the best host," Mulan sighed. "I'm still trying to get used to having a visitor. I haven't had company in over a decade."
"What?" Red all but yelled as her eyes widened comically. "Why?"
"I keep to myself," Mulan said. She cleared her throat and decided to change the topic. "How are you and Dorothy?"
Red seemed to notice the deflection judging by the twitch in her brow, but her expression softened a bit at the mention of her partner.
"We're good," she sighed wistfully as she plopped down on the bench where her cloak was folded. "It's still new to us. We've never really had a true love before."
"It must be nice," Mulan said. She tried to sound encouraging, but to her own ears she sounded bitter. Red gave her a strange look and Mulan busied herself with taking off her armour so that Red wouldn't get the chance to analyze her.
Apparently, Red quickly gave up, because she continued, "I never really understood true love until I met Dorothy. I mean, I saw Snow and Charming together, but you don't know true love until you've experienced it. It really is magic."
Mulan didn't dare reply to that, instead focusing on removing her cape and carelessly tossing it to the ground. More silence until Red added, "Her dog annoys the hell out of me though."
This, Mulan felt safe to respond to with a sympathetic laugh.
"It's like having a kid, only it never grows up," Red said with a small pout.
"We all make sacrifices for the ones we love," Mulan said. The last of her armour was off and she quickly slipped on a pair of trousers before she fumbled to put on a knee-length wool tunic.
"I know," Red replied. When Mulan turned to look at her, she found herself subject to scrutiny as Red openly looked at her. A beat passed, then Red said, "It's all worth it."
Mulan turned away.
"It is," she agreed. She hoped she didn't sound as hollow as she felt.
Dressed in her common clothes, Mulan went out back where she prepared a basic meal of stewed rice with boiled radish over an open fire. When presented with the food, Red balked at it for a split second before she hesitantly thanked Mulan. Only a moment later did she spit the food out and claim that she wasn't that hungry anyway. Mulan couldn't blame her; the food was rather plain and uninspired, but these were foods that she lived on while she was in the emperor's army. Food was a luxury not always easy to come by.
They retired for the night in Mulan's cot. It was crowded, seeing as the cot was really made for one person and not two, but they made do with it. Red was good about sharing the space and seemed comfortable to be in such close proximity with another person in slumber. On the other hand, it took Mulan several hours of tossing and turning to finally fall asleep. It was her bad luck that Red was an early-morning riser and didn't like for anyone to sleep in.
"Where do you wash?" Red asked as she stretched, catlike, in the centre of the hut. Mulan watched her groggily, her eyes slightly unfocused with sleep. The golden sunlight burst through the trees and flooded the hut and everything appeared bright and naked and skinned raw. The statues on the other end of the shed stood stoically among the dancing dust. Red's face glowed. The curves of her body highlighted by slivers of light. Mulan's desires and regrets, laid bare and festering like meat under an open sun.
Mulan clenched her jaw and mumbled something about a lake west of here and for Red to use one of the little balls of soap she had in a jar by the candles. Red was gone after a few minutes of shuffling and Mulan soon returned to sleep.
Mulan eventually woke up to see Red muttering to herself as she untangled her wet hair. She was already dressed in her tunic, vest, and crimson skirt. Her cloak laid on the bench, neatly folded.
"Rise and shine!" Red said gleefully when Mulan rose to her feet. "Sleep well?"
"Despite your snoring keeping me up half the night, I slept wonderfully," Mulan jested. Red scowled and threw one of her gloves at Mulan's face in retaliation.
After Mulan had bathed and put on her armour once more, she told Red that she was to report back to the chief in Guifei about the beast.
"What are you gonna tell him?" asked Red as they rode on Coursing River towards to the village. Despite Mulan telling her to stay behind, she insisted on joining Mulan, if only so that she could see Guifei without looking like an "awkward tourist".
"I'll tell him that I killed the beast," Mulan said. At Red's silence, she added, "It's safest to tell him that. I don't want the villagers to take it upon themselves to slay something that doesn't even exist and get themselves in trouble."
"Yeah," Red sighed. "I'm really sorry, Mulan."
"It's not your fault," Mulan said, though her voice betrayed the mild frustration bubbling in her chest. She was not so frustrated with Red as much as she was inconvenienced by the situation. Whatever the case, she was happy to wrap everything up and return to her hut, only to be bothered again by some other pale-faced courier boy in the next several months.
So, it came as quite the surprise to see several unfamiliar men and horses at the gate entrance to Guifei. It was not uncommon for Guifei to receive its share of merchants and bureaucrats, but these men certainly did not look like the commercial or political type. They wore thick, leather armour and carried broad dao blades on their hips. Eyes behind iron helmets gravitated to Mulan and Red as the two approached.
"What brings you here?" asked one man on horseback.
"I should ask you the same," Mulan said, her tone clipped.
"We are the men of General Zhang Jianhong," he replied as he puffed his chest. "I am An Jie. We heard that a demon was seen here last night."
"It's been slain," Mulan said as she rode on. Over her shoulder, she added, "Be sure to spread the word that the imperial soldier posted here killed it last night."
"What was that about?" asked Red when they were out of earshot.
"Fools with numbers to bolster their confidence," Mulan said with no shortage of resentment. "Most likely bandits trying to pass off as bounty hunters. I shouldn't have let you come out here with me."
"You do remember who I am, right?" Red replied with a tinkle of laughter. "I'm not exactly harmless."
"Neither are they," Mulan relented. "Keep sharp."
When they arrived at the chief's place, Mulan saw that a black horse with white mane was already tethered to the building. When Mulan and Red approached, it whinnied in agitation and shuffled as far away from them as it could. Mulan made sure to stop on the opposite end of the building and tie Coursing River to a nearby post before turning to Red.
"Stay out here," Mulan said. "If anything looks wrong or out of place, I want you to call for me."
"God, you sound like Granny," Red said, though it was more gentle than annoyed. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Mulan nodded curtly before she entered the building with her hand poised over her sword. Inside was the Chief Yao, back erect and expression strained to remain polite. Across from them was a man dressed in thick leather armour. An iron helmet similar to those of the men posted outside sat by his side. He and Chief Yao turned to watch Mulan walk in.
"Pardon my intrusion," Mulan said with a formal bow. "I come bearing news on the beast."
"Do you?" asked Chief Yao as he dabbed at his forehead. He looked especially sweaty this morning, despite the chill in the air. "What a coincidence. This young man came straight here as soon as he heard of the beast. Mulan, this is General Zhang Jianhong. General Zhang, this is General Hua Mulan."
"It is an honour to meet the renowned General Hua," Zhang said as he deeply nodded in acknowledgement. He was indeed young; he looked no older than thirty years old. His long, angular face was pulled into a smile that did not reach his eyes. Mulan took note of the silk that held his hair in a top knot; it was the same material which underlined his black cape. He spoke again, breaking Mulan's train of thought. "Sorry to impose, but I was sent by Commander Song Gen to oversee the area surrounding my garrison. Considering there was talk of another Yaoguai, I came straight here."
Song Gen. Mulan knew that name. She filed that away for later.
"Where is your garrison?" asked Mulan.
"Quixen Prefecture," he replied. "Just a mere twenty miles from this humble village."
"As you are so close by, I'm sure you heard that there was an imperial soldier here?" Mulan continued without a beat. "One that has already slayed a Yaoguai before?"
"Yet another legend to add to your name, yes," General Zhang said with a polite smile. "I have heard it all. I was just passing through to see if you needed any help."
General Hua Mulan narrowed her eyes a touch, but she quickly smoothed her brow.
"I assure you, I have it handled," Mulan said coldly before turning to Chief Yao who was shifting uncomfortably. "The beast is dead. I killed it last night."
"Oh, that is great news," said Chief Yao. "We did not expect any less from you, Mulan!"
"Ah, yes, good news," echoed Zhang, but there was an unnatural pull to his stiff smile. "You slayed it on your own?"
"Yes," Mulan said curtly. "Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering if you'd brought its fur back," said Zhang. "Most hunters bring back proof of their hunt. I thought, especially concerning such a beast, this situation would be no different."
"I am inclined to believe Mulan," said Chief Yao hastily. He seemed to sense the beginnings of a conflict and was smart enough to want to diffuse it before it boiled over. "She is a veteran of war. If she says that it is dead, then it is dead."
"I suppose that did come off as accusatory," said Zhang. "My apologies."
"Why are you really here, General Zhang?" Mulan asked, to Chief Yao's horror. She hardly cared if she sounded rude anymore because Zhang had this look on his face that grated on all her nerves.
"So direct," General Zhang chastised, though he didn't sound nearly insulted enough. "What makes you think I have ulterior motives? I came here to investigate a potential threat. One that you say you deposed of. This was all an unfortunate misunderstanding."
"No merchant could have travelled twenty miles and gotten the news to you for you to arrive here with just that in mind," Mulan pointed out. "In fact, Chief Yao, is it true that the only travelling merchant to come here was bearing south, not north?"
"The—er—the merchants don't usually tell me such things, but that is what I heard, yes," Chief Yao stumbled, his face growing red as sweat collected on his neck and chest. He aggressively dabbed at the building moisture.
"From what I remember," Mulan went on, "Quixen is up north. Now why are you here?"
General Zhang's smile faltered for the first time since Mulan walked in on his meeting with the chief. He scanned Mulan just as Mulan tried to dissect him and his motives until he said, slowly, "This sort of behaviour is very unladylike."
Mulan did not dignify that with a response. General Zhang continued.
"Commander Song has asked that I protect this village," said General Zhang. "Hence why I brought my men with me. I was going to privately discuss the plans with the chief until you interrupted."
"I'm already posted here," Mulan protested.
"You are one soldier in the face of a brewing threat," said Zhang. He turned to the chief and continued with, "Aside from the beast, there have been bandits running wildly in the woods. Many of my men have gone missing while out on patrol. I would be loath to have innocent villagers be preyed upon by uncivilized thieves."
"That does sound worrisome," mumbled Chief Yao.
"Commander Song is invested in the safety of all those who fall under his jurisdiction," Zhang continued. "As he is in charge of the western half of the mainland, you automatically fall under his protection. I would be more than happy to leave my soldiers in your hands."
"Just like that?" Mulan asked. "Free of charge?"
"Commander Song is wealthy enough and powerful enough to cover such costs," said Zhang, his eyes never leaving the chief. "What do you say?"
"Bandits are very much a problem," said Chief Yao as he brought his handkerchief to his collarbone to pat away the sweat.
"I can handle that alone, as I always have," Mulan said, but she knew the moment the words left her lips that they were hollow of promise. Zhang cast her a sidelong glance with a quirk of his lip before focusing back on the chief.
"I am more than aware of your abilities, Mulan," said Chief Yao. "But I also know that one soldier is never enough. If General Zhang is truly offering his services for free..."
"Completely free," insisted Zhang.
"I think this is the best decision for Guifei," said Chief Yao as he looked over at Mulan with a determined gaze. Mulan opened her mouth to protest, but Zhang beat her to the punch.
"It's good that you see reason," said Zhang as he began to rise. "I will have an outpost established beyond the gate. Don't worry, Chief Yao; your people will be in the most capable of hands. With Mulan working alongside them, I imagine you will be thoroughly protected."
"I would like to think so," Chief Yao muttered. General Zhang nodded firmly before picking up his helmet and bowing to the chief.
"I must take my leave and return to my garrison," said General Zhang as he straightened up. "If any problems arise, don't hesitate to notify me however you can."
"Yes, of course," said Chief Yao. Mulan watched as General Zhang swept out of the chamber and towards his anchored horse. His eyes locked on Mulan's for a brief moment before he mounted his stead and headed off at a steady trot. Mulan could feel Red's stare boring into her, but she was too busy watching Zhang leave.
Unfortunately, he rode too close to Red and his own stead reared its front legs and whinnied so loudly that all activity in the village square was halted in favour of watching Zhang and his belligerent horse. Red, to her credit, barely reacted as Zhang swore and tried to calm his horse. It eventually relaxed its posture, but it shook in distress even as it carried Zhang out of the village square. He cast Red a look that gave Mulan a thrill of childish glee. It was made all the better when Red turned to look at Mulan and shrugged with a close-mouthed smile that spelled innocence. Mulan almost felt proud of her for having such a deceitful front.
After Zhang's departure, the meeting with the chief was short. Mulan tried to convince the chief of General Zhang's ulterior motives, but the chief refused to pursue the issue.
"We need more than one woman to defend us, Mulan," he said. And, though it pained her to hear such a thing, she knew that this did not come from a place of malice, but one of fear and desperation. The Yaoguai had done nothing but kill off men, women, and children. It devoured the chief's wife and he had never quite been the same again since her funeral. Zhang had promised protection and what kind of chief would he be if he denied such a thing?
So, Mulan distanced herself and consented to the new standard. A soldier knew when to fight and when to desist. This was a good example of the latter.
That didn't stop her from complaining to Red about it on their way out the village, however.
"I didn't know one run could cause so much excitement," said Red. She sounded delighted which, really, wasn't much of a surprise to Mulan at all.
"Like I said, this has little to do with you," Mulan said. "General Zhang and his men are up to something. I'm going to keep an eye on them and see if they behave."
"I hope they do," Red said. "Though I still can't help but feel like I'm the cause of all this."
"You aren't," Mulan reassured. She hesitated before, against her better judgment, she took one hand off the reins and reached back for Red's knee and squeezed. It was a strange and awkward gesture, but it was one that came to her naturally. Thankfully, Red took her hand and held it firmly.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," said Red. "If this Commander Song guy is such a big shot, what would he want with a village? Maybe he really just wants to look after this place."
There was a pensive pause after that. Perhaps Red noticed that Mulan was tense because she began to draw circles in the palm of Mulan's gloved hand and said, "And besides. They have you, right? They're in pretty good hands."
"I suppose," Mulan said, her mind focused on the path being marked on her palm and little else. She sounded terser than she intended, so she added, gently, "I just don't want to see these people hurt."
"Can I ask you something personal?" Red asked.
"Okay." Mulan didn't feel okay about this at all, as a matter of fact, but she didn't want to appear contrary.
"Why are you so invested in Guifei?" Red probed. "You never have anyone over. You don't even live with the people there. You spent years in the Enchanted Forest and only came back after I broke the curse on Dorothy. It just seems odd that you'd want to protect them now all of a sudden."
Mulan's grip tightened on the reins of her horse as she pondered Red's question. To be honest, Mulan really wasn't all that interested in Guifei. She was here for the same reasons she joined the Merry Men and for the same reasons she joined Red on her quest to find other werewolves. For the same reasons why she left it all behind to return to isolation in the forest.
"My father asked that I stay and guard this place," Mulan said instead. "He lived and died in Guifei. I was only fourteen when I had to leave to fight the war. By time I returned, I was...different. While the village had stayed the same."
Mulan avoided talking about how the nightmares woke her up in bouts of cold sweat. How she always, always slept with a knife under her pillow. How she came back to Guifei and could not recognize anyone anymore. How she heard that her father died in his sleep while she was serving.
"Going to Misthaven was a foolish pursuit," Mulan added. She felt Red's hand slip away from hers, but she pressed on. "I was trying to run away from my promise and find what I thought I lacked after the war was over. I know now that it's best if I stay here and fulfill my duty."
"Mulan," Red said, her voice full of reproach. Mulan could practically feel the waves of disapproval against the back of her head. "Without you, Merida would have never become queen of Dun Broch. If you didn't see that I was human while I was a wolf, I would have still been the pet of that evil witch. I would have never found Dorothy. You coming to Misthaven was the best thing that happened for us. I—"
Red stopped herself there and, no matter how much Mulan waited, she would not finish the sentence.
"What?" Mulan asked when she finally ran out of patience.
"Never mind," Red muttered.
"I didn't mean for it to come out that way," Mulan apologized. "I don't regret meeting you or Merida. I don't even regret having a broken heart. It was all a learning experience."
Red was quiet for a few moments. Then, "You never told me who broke your heart."
Mulan laughed, though it was hollow of humour. "No matter how much you ask, I would still prefer not to tell you. I haven't told them, so I won't tell anyone else."
"I'll wear you down eventually," Red said. "Just so I could help you move on. As far as I'm concerned, you're still wallowing in self-pity."
"I do not—do you want to walk back to the shed?" Mulan snapped playfully. Red laughed and Mulan found it to be contagious because she soon joined her. And, just like that, the tension was broken, even as they rode in silence.
That night, Mulan cooked again, but this time Red offered to help with preparing the food. It still came out rather plain, but there were more components to the dish, thanks to some of Red's suggestions. Red did mention that she used to work at a diner and deemed herself a food expert, at least in comparison to Mulan.
Red told her that she would be leaving the next morning.
"Dorothy is probably waiting on me to get back," Red said. Mulan nodded her understanding. Red went on, "It's weird, but it...hurts to be away from her for too long. I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't apologize," Mulan said as she laid a hand atop Red's. She squeezed it lightly, with conviction that she lacked. Mulan looked Red in the eye and said, "You should be with the one you love, Red. Go back to her. I'll be fine."
A smile graced Red's full lips and, though it was small, Mulan saw heaven and earth within it. Despite herself, Mulan smiled back and dropped Red's hand before she quietly returned to her bowl of rice, pan-fried radishes, and boiled egg. It was the best meal she'd had in years.