First Mulan Fanfiction! So excited. This ill sound kind of like the movie- I hope.
Somehow, the Captain made every day of training the longest days of their lives- and Mulan knew everyone else shared her view. Admittedly, she had gotten a little better over the past month after retrieving the arrow. But that didn't mean that every fiber of her being didn't ache from the difficult course. Shang didn't seem to have any sympathy at all towards her despite the fact she was the smallest of them all; instead, he expected more out of her than anyone else. He seemed to think "making a man out of you" meant that when she finally broke, she would come back stronger.
As they stood straight in formation on yet another one of these long days, Shang announced another run, much to the dismay of his army.
"Why is it every time I can start to move again, Pretty Boy here ruins it?" Yao grumbled loudly.
Mulan held back a laugh. She agreed. The runs were quite possibly the worst torture Shang could inflict on them. No matter how hard she worked to reserve her energy, by the third lap she could barley breathe. Somehow, though, she was managed to stay in front of most of the men and sometimes even passed Shang (much to his dismay). This didn't mean she didn't struggle just as much as everyone else.
"Wait." Shang yelled out just as they were beginning to run. They turned towards him.
"As a reward for the past week of continuous effort..." He paused, relishing the widened eyes throughout the men. "Since you've all been begging for a while, you don't have to wear armor as you run today."
There was silence for a moment, as they wondered if this was a joke, perhaps to test their gullibility. Slowly, they realized he meant it.
Everyone rejoiced loudly and began shedding the heavy armor. Everyone, that is, except Mulan.
Her heart had jumped to her throat, and it stopped her from breathing. No armor? She thought dully. But that would mean...
My secret is about to be exposed.
At the tender age of sixteen, the curves she was so excited to have at the beginning of the year were her curse now. Shang had always required them to wear the armor, and even though it was excruciatingly heavy she was grateful. It gave her the apearance of a straight body. It was rare that the trainees took it off, except for bathing and sleeping.
And now.
Mulan stood straight and tense, aware that the other men were several feet in front of her. Briefly she wondered if she could skip the run without the Captain noticing, until she heard a voice behind her.
"Ping? Why aren't you running yet? Is there something wrong?"
The casual tone of Shang's voice only made her more nervous. "Um..." Mulan turned around slowly, trying to sound nonchalant. It didn't help that once again he wasn't wearing a shirt. "I'd rather run with my armor...on. Is...that okay?" She was so nervous it was hard to keep her voice lower than the normal pitch.
He looked at her confusedly. "Why? I know you don't like having to wear it all the time. I would think you of all the men would jump at the chance to be rid of it."
"I just..." She swung her arms and bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to act like she had the first day in the army- manly. "I thought I could, you know, get better! I mean, if you're not absolutely devoted to it, it won't help me...improve." She laughed weakly. He was giving her a strange look.
Then he shrugged. "Well, it's kind of...required." He smiled. "I didn't think I would have to make it required, Ping. We need to clean the armor, because as I'm sure you've noticed-" He leaned in as if sharing a secret- "we stink. A lot."
Unwillingly, she laughed.
"I cleaned mine yesterday in the spring. So I shouldn't be in trouble." Mulan turned around to leave, trying to avoid a confrontation. "So... yeah. I"m gonna go run."
"Wait!" Shang said, and as he reached to grab her, he missed her shoulder, accidentally latching onto the tie of her armor. It came loose quickly.
In one horrifying second, she felt her chest armor slip away, though she made a feeble attempt to clutch it to her chest. But it was too late.
She squeezed her eyes shut as Shang gasped.
Her heart did not jump; because she had no heart. It wasn't beating, anyways. Her mind refused to believe that the gasp was because he had found out she was-
"A woman." Shang whispered. Her eyes were still tightly closed, but she could feel the disbelief radiating from him. He had her armor, so she couldn't cover herself. Slowly, she opened her eyes. He was staring at her, perplexed.
"A woman!" He whispered. His whispers filled with disbelief were much more scarier than his raging screams . Propelled into action by fear, she sprinted away from him and towards her tent. Whether or not he was following her, she didn't know. She refused to stop until she arrived at her destination.
"Mushu!" She cried anxiously once she finally jumped inside the makeshift tent.
Silence.
With another gut-wrenching thought, she realized that he was still tucked away in her armor. Shang had him, her best friend, her guardian. Without him, what would she do? Her mind was blank- at least, in regard as what to do. Could she escape? No. HE would hunt her down. Could she knock him out and somehow affect his short- term memory, erase somehow what he saw?
And he had, in fact, seen her curves. The bane of her existence, indeed. No man that slender would have a chest like hers.
"Ping..."
His voice outside her tent scared her, of course. Mulan held her breath, hoping he would just go away. But there wasn't any where else she could have run.
The whispering disbelief was gone. In its place was anger, pride, (wounded pride, he'd just realized a girl had beaten him in sparring) and coldness. Above all, the unbearable coldness. No longer were the Shang and Ping, unlikely friends. They were Captain and Soldier. No, not even that. She realized that at the very least she wasn't a soldier anymore.
"Come out, Ping. Or is that even your name?"
Slowly, she edged out, hoping he couldn't see the terror on her face.
"We obviously have a lot to talk about." His voice was sarcastic and cruel. Never before had she heard his voice tinged with cruelty, she noticed dimly. Stric, sure, but never cruel.
With a flourish of his scarlet cape, he spun around and strode off, and Mulan scurried after him.
Well, whaddya think? I'm not gonna have romance at first. And this is going to be completely appropriate. So if you liked it, review... please! You know how much evey writer loves reviews!
