Mulan: Japan
Little Brother: Pochi/Tama
Shang: China
Shang's father: Hong Kong
Ling: America
Chen Po/Chin Po: Prussia
Yao: Romano
Mushu: Denmark
Cricket: Norway
Mulan's mother: Liechtenstein
Mulan's father: Switzerland
Mulan's grandmother: Egypt
Head ancestor: Cuba
Matchmaker: Belarus
Shan-Yu: Russia
Emperor: Roman Empire
Scribe: North Korea
Ancestors and people: Other countries
Chapter One
It was dark as soldiers patrolled the Great Wall. The sky was a dark purple-blue but the clouds were an inky black as the soldiers carried on their patrol. A small breeze blew through the land but one wary soldier somehow knew what was going to happen next. WHOOSH! A sudden cold breeze past by, and for a split second the soldier thought he saw a face in the breeze. WHOO-CLICK! The sound caught him off guard as he looked at the edge to see a grappling hook and leaned over the edge slightly... only to see more grappling hooks come at him.
"We're under attack! Light the signal!" Of course he never expected that the door on the section he was patrolling would open... or that Russians would be walking out of the door instead of the soldiers that were waiting to light the signal. He gasped before looking at the ladder next to the door and quickly climbed up it, narrowly dodging the sword that cut the ladder in half underneath him but he reached the top in time and grabbed a torch before suddenly stopping and stared at something in shock.
It was a man of 5' 11" with short light beige-blond hair with dark purple-blue wearing a long, dark double-breasted coat with decorative epaulets, light colored trousers, tall boots, and a long pinkish-tan scarf. And perched on his face was a childish smile that concealed an aura of dread. The cold breeze with a face appeared again and the soldier quickly looked at the torch before throwing it on an oil-filled cauldron in front of them. As the soldier stared at the Russian angrily, the Russian turned to see other fires starting at the rest of the wall. "Now all of China know you're here."
The Russian turned back, snapped the flagpole in half as the cold breeze with a face left, and held the flag over the flames to watch it quickly burn up. "Perfect."
A couple hours later, two doors opened and walking into a long room with seats on both sides and at the end of the aisle was the Emperor with really curly dark brown hair and auburn eyes with his scribe, a young man with braided brown-black hair and matching eyes, as the soldier kneeled before them. "Your Majesty," The soldier, who has short chopped brown hair and eyes, said sternly. "The Russians have crossed our northern border."
"Impossible," The scribe, who has a Korean accent, interrupted. "No one can get through the Great Wall!" He stopped himself from continuing when the Emperor raised his hand to him. "Ivan is leading them," The soldier insisted, which caught the Emperor's attention. "We'll set up defenses to protect your palace immediately." "No," The Emperor interrupted before the action could commence. "Send your troops to protect my people. Ying Nim," "Yes you Grace." Ying Nim answered. "Deliver conscription notices throughout all the provinces. Call up reserves, and all new recruits as soon as possible."
"Forgive me your Highness," The soldier insisted. "But I believe my troops can stop him." "I won't take any chances General," The Emperor also insisted. "One grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat."
"Quiet, and among, carm, poised, punctuar!" A boy, who was 5' 5'' and nineteen years of age with short black hair and soulless brown eyes with a Japanese accent, muttered as he wrote on his rice paper. He was originally from Japan but a teenager who was originally from Switzerland along with his little sister found him when he was three years old in a wrecked fishing boat and raised him as his own child. The boy was the only male in the 'family' that is able to bear children which was a gift from his goddess Amaterasu before the boat incident.
CUCKOOO! A rooster crowed and made him look at it curiously before remembering the day. "Kuso!" He shouted as he jumped off of the bed and ran through the hallway. "Tama! Pochi! Ta- There you two are!" He cooed as he found his black-and-white Japanese bobtail cat and his whitish-tan Shiba Inu, who both were with him in the boat wreck, and gently woke them up. "Come on smart boys, you two want to herp me with my chores?" He threw a sack of corn in front of them as Pochi barked a bit and Tama answered by meowing a bit.
He tied the bag to Pochi and tied a stick with a bone tied to it on Tama, and the two instantly knew what to do. Tama ran in front of Pochi, which was needed without the bone but the boy loved spoiling his pets, and nearly ran into the wall when the boy opened the bottom half of the door and then ran to the chickens. Somewhere along the way, a hole appeared in the sack as corn fell out of it and as the two ran past the chickens, the chickens ate it up but the two were having too much fun to stop.
They even ran past a white horse with dark stocking and black mane and tail, who neighed quietly as if he was embarrassed, and they went towards a shrine where a man in his mid thirties with short blond hair and dark green eyes was silently praying. "Great ancestors," He muttered as he stared at a small dragon statue which had wild tufts of hair at its head. "Please help Kiku impress the matchmaker today." Just after he said that, Tama and Pochi ran aound him and a few seconds later the chickens arrived. "Please, please help him."
Tama teased Pochi by standing up on his hind legs and making the bone higher so it would be out of reach but Kiku, who was now wearing a purple-blue yukata and had a tray with a tea set, untied the bone and gave it to Pochi while giving Tama a fish he got in the river. "Otou-san I brought-" Just as he said that he bumped into the blond and dropped the tea set but the blond managed to save the teapot. "Oooh.." The blond said as they looked at the mess, and winced if the female of the family found out and of how she would take it.
"I've brought a spare-" The raven started as he pulled a teacup out of one of his sleeves. "Kiku-" The blond started but was interrupted. "Remember the doctor said three cups of tea in the morning-" "Kiku-" "And three at night." "Kiku, you should already be in town. We're counting on you to-" "Uphord the famiry honor," Kiku finished for him. "Don't worry Otou-san, I won't ret you down. Wish me ruck!"
"Hurry!" The blond said, only to look down and see that Pochi had the whole bone in his mouth while Tama had a fish tail hanging out of his and the two stared at him curiously. "I'm going to... ah... pray some more." He said as he turned back into the shrine and ignored the two pets.
"Lilli, is your nephew here yet?" A brown haired girl with green eyes asked impatiently yet curiously. "The matchmaker is not a patient woman." And neither am I. She thought as she remembered her husband, who likes to hit on other people but expresses his undying love for her. "Of all days to be late," A woman with the same short length hair as the male blond and slightly soulless green eyes muttered to a slightly older man with short black hair and brown-green eyes who was holding a cage with a cricket in it. "I should have prayed to the ancestors to luck."
"How lucky can they be?" The man said irritably as he looked at the sky. "They're dead. Besides I've got all the luck we need," He held up the cage, which held a blond-colored cricket with soulless purple eyes and a curl floating next to its head, before walking away a bit. "This is your chance to prove yourself." The cricket looked at him curiously and in shock as he covered his eyes and walked into the road.
"GUPTA! NO!" Lilli shouted as she watched her family friend walk through the road, until everything crashed with each other. She feared the worst until she saw the dust clear and her friend safely on the other side. "Yep! This cricket's a lucky one!" The cricket wobbled on his legs before fainting as a horse came running up. "I'm here!" Kiku shouted as he jumped off the horse but was met with a disapproving look as his adoptive aunt lifted a bit of is hair in her hand. "What? But Lilli-oba-" "Not another word. Now let's get you cleaned up." She interrupted as she pulled him close and walked towards the... the... I don't know what it's called, but I'll guess: the bathers.
(AN: I'll skip the singing.)
Four girls and Kiku lined up in front of the matchmaker's home, and jumped slightly as the doors slammed open. A woman of 5' 3'' with waist-length dark blond hair and purple-blue eyes came out and glanced at her list even though she already knew the names but wanted to look professional. "Honda Kiku." "Present!" He said as he stood up. "Speaking without permission." The matchmaker said as she turned around and marked it on the list. "Oops." He muttered as he mentally hit himself. "Who spit in her bean curd?" Gupta asked Lilli as Kiku walked inside and the doors were slammed shut.
"Hmm..." The lady said as she walked around him and then tsked. "Too skinny, huh not good for bearing sons." The cricket somehow opened its cage door and jumped on her shoulder but Kiku caught it before she could notice. He tried to put it back in its' cage but it kept jumping out of his hands until he finally caught it, but the matchmaker was turning to him and he panicked.
"Recite the final admonission." She demanded as he smiled and shoved the cricket in his sleeve secretly. "Well?" "Furfirr your duties carmry and respectivery. Refrect before you snack.. act! Then show your honor and grory." He breathed a relieved breath before the matchmaker eyed him suspiciously and shrugged. "This way." She said as she dragged him by his wrist to a table where a teacup and a teapot were waiting. She picked the teapot off the burner and set it on the table before gesturing to him.
"Now pour the tea," She said as he just stared at her in awe and slight fear. "To please your future in-laws, you must demonstrate a sense of dignity. And refinement, you must also be poised." He glanced down before looking at the teacup in shock. The cricket had made himself cozy in the half-filled cup before the matchmaker picked it up. "Umm... pardon me." "And silent!" She scorned as he tried to speak before smelling the cup and breathing into it, and the cricket!
"Can I take that back? For a moment?" Kiku asked as he gently tried to pull the cup out of her hands but she yanked back causing her to fall out of her chair, the tea spilled on her, and the cricket went inside her dress. "Why you clumsy little-!" She started until she felt the cricket moving in her dress. She tried to reach it but tripped... and landed on the burner. She screamed in slight pain as she hopped around and Kiku looked for something to put it out until it suddenly caught fire.
"WHOA!" Her scream could be heard on the outside as everyone waiting, but Gupta smiled a bit. "Sounds going well don't you?" He asked Lilli as he still smiled. He never liked the matchmaker one bit. Then the doors opened. "Put it out! PUT IT OUT!" Kiku rushed out with the teapot and dumped the tea on her, which extinguished the fire but the look on her face told him it was over.
He handed the pot to her and walked down the stairs while covering his face as the cricket jumped back into its' cage and closed the door. "YOU ARE A DISGRACE!" She shouted as she threw the pot on the ground, which shattered instantly. "You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!" She turned around and stomped towards her house as Kiku looked at the ground in distraught while his aunt tried to calm him down and Gupta led them away from the crowd.
A couple hours later, he was back in his purple-blue yukata with Tama and Pochi trying to cheer him up but to no avail. The male blond found him a few minutes later and sat next to the silent teen. He looked around to try and find something to start a conversation with, and realized what was around them. "What beautiful blossoms we have this year," He said but Kiku just ignored him. "Look this one's late. I bet when it blooms it will be the most beautiful of them all." He stuck one behind the teen's ear and as they smiled at each other... a drum was repeatedly beating.
"What is it?" Kiku asked as his adoptive father stood up in nervousness. Horses trotted into the marketplace square as people moved out of the way and the Royal Scribe came forward. "Kiku stay inside." Lilli told him as she and her brother went out the door but Gupta gestured to a pile of crates stacked at the house wall. He climbed the crates and stood on his toes to be able to see what was happening.
"Citizens! I bring a proclamation from the Imperial City! The Russians have invaded China!" Ying Nim shouted as he noticed everyone gasping and a couple of mothers bring their children inside their houses. "By order of the Emperor, one man from every family must serve in the Imperial Army! The Zhao family! The Yi family! The Zwingli family!"
"No.." Kiku whispered as he watched his father walk to Ying Nim and bow slightly. "I'm ready to serve the Emperor." He said as he reached for the scroll being haned to him. "Otou-san you can't go!" "Kiku!" "Prease sir, my Otou-san has arready fought-" "SILENCE!" Ying Nim shouted as he put his horse between the teen and the scroll hander. "It would do well if you taught your... Japanese... to hold his tongue in a true man's presence."
"Kiku, you dishonor me." The blond said to him, and he had a look of sadness no one had seen on him before as Gupta came forward to calm him down. "Report tomorrow at the Wu Shu Camp!" The blond bowed and grabbed the scroll before going back towards the house with a determined look on his face and never looked at the rest of his family.
Hours later, Kiku was serving tea with dinner as the others stayed quiet, even Pochi and Tama were silently eating. Thunder rumbled outside as Kiku poured tea into his own cup, Gupta looked at him for a second before closing his eyes and continued eating but Kiku couldn't handle the silence anymore. So he slammed his cup on the table.
"You shouldn't have to go!" He shouted as he stood up. "Kiku!" Lilli started but was interrupted again. "There are prenty of young men to fight for China!" The blond was just unfazed. "It is an honor to protect my new country and my family." But Kiku wouldn't have it. "So, you'rr die for honor?" "I will die if it means doing what's right." "If you-" "I KNOW MY PLACE!" The blond interrupted, already fed up with the teen. "It's time you learned yours."
Kiku just looked at him before running out of the house. "Big Brother..." "Vash..." Lilli and Gupta gasped out since they've never seen him explode like that. Kiku grasped a post as he silently let out tears before going to a statue where he could sit and stared at his reflection while he was getting drenched from the harsh and pouring rain. He looked up to see shadows of the siblings talking quietly, probably telling each other goodnight since Vash picked up the candle after Lilli left and blew it out.
Sopping wet, he quietly walked to the shrine and stuck a smoking stick as he quickly prayed before going to his father's armoire and saw the Japanese samurai uniform (AN: It's just a black version of what he wears in Season One) that was with him in the ship wreck and quickly put it on. He went to the stables and got his horse, after calming it down for a few seconds, and then rode through the gate and into the distance.
A picture of a dragon suddenly changed as the eyes glowed and Gupta suddenly woke up while gasping. "Kiku's gone!" He shouted as he barged into the siblings' room. "What?!" Vash asked as they suddenly woke up... and then noticed the chrysanthemum sitting on the end table instead of the scroll he received earlier. "No..." He whispered before running to the courtyard in fear. "KIKU!"
He suddenly tripped and saw the open gate. "No..." He whispered as Lilli kneeled next to him. "You should go after him," She said as he sat up. "He could be killed." Vash gently grabbed her arm before she could get up. "If I reveal him, he will be." Gupta watched in sorrow as the oldest blond stared at the ground in distraught. Even though Kiku was not related to him, Vash has felt like Kiku is truly his son. "Great ancestors, watch over Kiku."