Hi, Oncers! This is my first Sleeping Warrior fic and also my first OUAT fanfiction, so please cut me some slack over here. It takes place pretty much after Queen of Hearts, and the only characters in it are Mulan and Aurora. This will probably be painful to you.
Title: Broken
Summary: Sleeping Warrior angsty one-shot. Inspired by a prompt on Tumblr.
Rating: T, because I'm incredibly paranoid.
Characters: Mulan & Aurora
The sun rose peacefully over the meadow, and Mulan stirred gently and sat up, cracking her limbs and straightening her back, grimacing as she left the harsh ground. Her hair tumbled down her shoulders and she ran a hand through it, frowning gently and rolling her eyes, sticking it up and brushing a loose strand away from her face.
Her gaze flickered towards the sleeping princess beside her and she breathed in deeply, her forehead relaxing slightly, the wrinkles becoming less pronounced and her face transforming into something seemingly younger.
Still, she did not smile, and the mere moment of peace left her suddenly as she began to gather their supplies, moving carefully and fluidly, careful not to disturb her soundly sleeping companion. Sleeping Beauty, indeed, she thought wryly, A small smile tugged on the edges of Mulan's lips, but she restrained it, biting her lip and keeping her expression carefully, perfectly blank. It was so much simpler this way, it was so much simpler to simply pretend like she had no emotions left over for anything anymore.
But sometimes, Mulan could feel her heart nearly thawing, but whenever she felt anything, she fiercely brushed the thought away and instead focused on what she knew was correct, on what was purely logical and tactical and objective. Mulan sighed inwardly and finished packing up the bags, looking up at the sky to confirm to herself what she already knew. It was early, it was really much too early to be doing anything, but Mulan had never really been one for sleeping in. Sleeping was weakness, and Mulan made it her job to stay as far away from weakness as possible.
So she sat, facing the rising sun and meditated, trying not to concentrate too much on the steady sounds of Aurora's breathing. But every so often she could feel her eyes, which were supposed to be closed, slipping over to the other girl's sleeping form, and she would quickly shut her eyes and turn back away again, cold, unfeeling, infinite.
She straightened her back strictly and closed her eyes firmly, trying frantically to erase all emotions from her soul. It worked, for a little while, and for just a few moments, she had peace. Mulan sat, facing the rising sun, feeling the warmth begin to glow brighter on her face. She heard Aurora stirring very faintly next to her, and Mulan turned to look at her companion.
Aurora turned to the side, and Mulan's forehead creased for a split second, wondering briefly if she had gone back to sleep. But Aurora rolled back onto her back and sat up, brushing her hair out of her face with a steady hand and staring at Mulan, not saying anything. Aurora smiled, and Mulan nodded once firmly. She stood up, brushing the fine dust that had settled into her clothes off with one light hand and holding an already gloved hand out to Aurora, who grasped it and used it to pull herself back up to a standing position.
Aurora nodded quickly at Mulan, and Mulan nearly sensed that some sort of an unspoken thank you had passed between them, and she simply lowered her gaze to the ground and turned back around, poking at the remnants of their fire with a stick that she had found on the ground. The embers were still warm, and a warm, earthly glow was emitted from the small pile of burned wood and grass that was nestled neatly on the ground.
"Are you hungry?" Mulan asked softly, her eyes still turned towards the ground as she stooped and inspected the glowing embers. Her tone was clipped and formal, as neutral as always, really. Her eyes flickered up just in time to see Aurora shake her head and shrug lightly. Mulan turned back to the ground and breathed in a quick, shallow breath. "Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes," Aurora said pointedly, and when Mulan looked back up at her for yet another confirmation of her lack of hunger, Aurora nodded, nearly irritated. Mulan shrugged and stood back up, kicking a small mound of dirt over the embers and crushing them under her foot, extinguishing the flame that had provided a small source of comfort in the chilling night once and for all.
"We can't wait here," Mulan said hurriedly and paused for a split second, wondering if she should take Aurora's hand for safety or just leave it. Common sense won, though, and she kept her hand firmly against her thighs, squaring her shoulders and setting off towards the north, her eyes flickering next to her sporadically to see if Aurora was still following her.
The sun shone bright and unpleasantly against Aurora's features, and she squinted, staring up at the sky with a grimace that she didn't have enough energy to hide. Other than the steady descent of the sun against the sky, time stood rather still for her, the minutes blending together into a mosaic of colors and moments that somehow barely existed but still lasted an eternity.
Ever since she had awoken from her curse, time hadn't seemed the same before. Hours seemed to pass in seconds, minutes in years. Nothing was relative anymore, and time no longer meant the sun's path in the sky anymore. Time was merely the sequence of one moment to the next now, the quiet ticking of the celestial clock in Aurora's mind.
The years that Aurora's mind had spent nestled in a corner of her consciousness had robbed her of her sense of time, and she was only barely aware of Mulan's footsteps next to her, pounding on the ground steadily in a secure rhythm that somehow managed to calm Aurora. Indeed, simply having the warrior next to her was comforting, and Aurora did not have the energy to wonder why.
Mulan simply strode on, a neutral expression on her face that would occasionally look to the side or to the sun, to perhaps check the time or the direction in which they were heading. The castle wasn't too far, perhaps a few hours more, but she knew Aurora, and she knew that the princess would slowly start to tire.
They stopped for lunch, avoiding eye contact desperately and trying not to speak. Mulan lit a fire carefully, gathering the wood and leaves and squatting down, hitting a flint over and over again for a tiny spark that would hopefully set it on fire. "How far do we have?" Mulan heard Aurora faintly from where they had set up a temporary camp, her voice cutting through the silence like a knife.
"It's not far anymore, princess," Mulan replied softly and turned to look at her, her expression cautiously blank. She very faintly registered the brief twisting of Aurora's mouth at the term 'princess.' Mulan herself even loathed that word. It reminded her of a hierarchy that did not exist. It made Aurora seem pretentious, cocky even, to be called as such, and although Mulan had thought that true about the princess in the past, she did not think that now.
"I do wish you wouldn't call me that," Aurora said softly. Or maybe it wasn't her. It was so quiet that Mulan could pretend like she hadn't heard it, like it was the gentle breeze or the soft crackling of the fire that was just beginning to glow a bit stronger. Nevertheless, Mulan could ignore it, and ignore it she did, turning away from her again and focusing on the fire, blowing on it gently so that it soon became a roaring flame.
They ate an hour later, Mulan slaughtering a rabbit that she had seen hopping along the dirt road and skinning it, sticking it over the fire and roasting it until it had been (hopefully) safe to eat. "You should rest," Mulan said finally when she had finished eating, and she kicked a cloud of dirt over the fire and ground her heel into the dying embers. "Although the way is not far, we will still have a while to walk."
"I'm not tired," Aurora protested, agitated. She stood up and swept her cloak over her shoulder, turning impatiently. She stared at Mulan, somehow annoyed and brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.
"No." Mulan protested, and she motioned towards the ground, taking a mat out of her pack and unrolling it on the ground. "You're tired." She sighed deeply and stared at the other woman. Being challenged, being argued with—Mulan was not used to being in charge. No, Mulan was used to being a good little soldier, unbending and obedient in duty.
"Why don't you take a nap, then?" Aurora snapped. "You don't sleep during the day, only at night, and you're probably awake before dawn." She sat down on a log across from Mulan and crossed her arms, pursing her lips and rolling her eyes.
"I swore to Philip to protect you," Mulan said through her teeth for what seemed like the thousandth time. "And I can't protect you if I'm asleep all the time, can I?" She stared at Aurora pointedly, her eyes carefully tracing her features with an expression of worry before they flickered and turned instead into cold, blind determination.
"Fine," Aurora spat out and lay down on the mat, her hair tumbling out over her shoulders. Mulan could hear her mumbling vaguely as Aurora turned to the side and closed her eyes, and she felt her heart tug at her lips for a brief smile which she quickly repressed. The fire died out completely and the sun continued its path across the sky, and Mulan sat still, waiting for something that she could not comprehend herself.
Later, she would've sworn that she knew something bad was going to happen.
But of course in that moment she had no sense of danger, no sense of the coming tragedy and failure that would soon be staring her directly in the eyes, more real than anything she had ever known before. No, in that moment Mulan was blissfully ignorant, ignorant towards the world and all of its dangers. In that moment, Mulan simply existed, watching the princess sleep for what seemed like the millionth time, fulfilling the oath that she had made to protect her that had somehow stopped being an oath along the way and had started to be her free will.
The footsteps were loud and frightening, and Mulan started suddenly as she realized what it was. Ogres. Damn. Of all the things to encounter, this was it.
She crept towards the figure, holding her breath desperately and trying not to alert it to her presence. She couldn't make a single sound, she knew that, and if she kept out of its vision, she would be safe, or at least she hoped.
Mulan's soul filled with the impending sense of doom, and the ogre rounded on her, its unintelligent eyes gleaming with malice as it swung its fists desperately trying to hit her successfully. She ducked and weaved out of the way, her fingers seeking her dagger for confirmation that she still had it.
Maybe if she hadn't tripped in that damn rabbit hole.
Her boot caught in the slight indentation in the ground and Mulan's ankle twisted brutally. She sank to the ground, trying to suppress a desperate cry of pain but somehow failing. She wasn't supposed to be weak. She was supposed to be a warrior. She wasn't supposed to cry out. But cry out she did, and the ogre rounded on her, cackling as it had finally located its prey.
"No," Mulan choked out, her eyes suddenly clouding with fear as her heart turned to panic. Please, she thought wildly, to whatever deity was in the sky at this moment. She didn't even care—she needed to live. Let me be saved.
And in some strange, twisted way, Mulan did, indeed, get her wish.
"Leave her alone," a sharp, piercing cry came that seemed to shatter the air like a knife, twisting its way into Mulan's heart and letting her bleed to death. "Get away!" It was Aurora, who had managed to pull herself up to a standing position and was staring at the ogre with an expression of the most intense hatred Mulan had ever seen in her life. It sent shivers up her spine, to see the pure passion that resonated within those ice blue eyes, and for a split second, she forgot that they were in mortal danger.
"What are you doing?" She mouthed desperately to Aurora, but she didn't answer and only ducked out of the way as wood began to fly dangerously close to her head from the ogre's pummeling fists.
"Get away from her," Aurora said, most certainly loud enough for the ogre to hear. He began to get closer and closer to the other girl and Mulan started, scrambling up the meadow desperately to save Aurora. If she broke her oath—screw the oath, screw Prince Philip—if she let Aurora get hurt, Mulan would never be able to forgive herself. The failure would be forever branded into her soul, it would scar her mind. She would never be guilt-free.
The ogre finally struck a secure blow on the side of Aurora's head and the girl—for she really was just reduced to a mere girl in those last few precious moments—went down, hitting the ground with a sickening thud that seemed to echo across centuries and millennia in Mulan's mind.
"No," Mulan snarled, and she didn't even remember the next moments—she just very faintly registered that, in mere seconds, she had slaughtered to ogre, standing next to its butchered corpse. Swallowing and kicking the corpse once for good measure, she rushed to Aurora's side. She wasn't moving.
"Wake up," Mulan demanded. "For once, listen to me, and wake up." Her voice was desperate, pleading even, and her heart thudded painfully in her chest as Aurora's eyelids fluttered open. "Thank god," Mulan breathed, and for a mere moment, she allowed herself to be consumed with emotion. "Thank you."
But Aurora's breathing was weak and faltering, and Mulan's stomach began to churn. This did not look good—it did not look good at all. Aurora opened her mouth and choked out a few syllables, breathing heavily. "Talk to me," Mulan pleaded. One last time, her brain added, but she blocked out the thought. She couldn't die here. She wouldn't die here.
"L-Love is sacrifice," Aurora choked out, then erupted into a harsh coughing fit that left her body shaking. She tried to smile, her eyes flickering over Mulan's face as if memorizing her features, the gentle slope of her cheek, the color of her eyes. Mulan's heart thudded against her ribs. The beating of her heart was so painfully obvious, and in that moment, Mulan nearly cursed it. "It's s-something you c-clearly don't understand," Aurora finished, and Mulan felt her chest constrict painfully as Aurora collapsed for the final time.
The light faded from her eyes, and she was no more.