Chapter 2: A Girl Worth Fighting For - Mulan
*In this version, just pretend that Briar died. I never agreed with her death anyways. Jake needs someone to love. He deserves it*
"Stop dragging your feet! Pick up and march like men, there's only 4 more miles until we set up camp!" Charming bellowed as he strode along the troops on his white stallion. The war was starting to get bad. The Scarlet Hand had turned Ferryport Landing into an apocalypse zone. So much destruction had happened that the once small and quiet town was unrecognizable. Underground piping was torn apart, buildings in shambles, roads and bridges collapsed and the town was isolated from any help from outside forces. Food and resources were becoming scarce. Fresh water was on short supply and sickness had started spreading around the camp. It was time for the men to start a confrontational battle. Beat the Hand's army and gain their land as their own so Fort Charming could have a chance at survival.
"Easy for him to say as 'His Majesty's' feet haven't touched the ground in the last 15 miles." Pinocchio sneered as he whittled away at a small tree branch. Puck, Pinocchio, Henry, and Uncle Jake were the leading the troops as they walked a few feet behind Charming on his horse. The small army of 130 men's feet were starting to drone into an uneven beat against the dry earth. They were tired and hadn't rested in days.
"It's not so bad if you just take your mind off your feet. Keep your mind occupied." Uncle Jake panted as he wiped the stream of sweat dripping down his temple. The swamps they were walking through were humid and muggy. Flies and mosquitos flew around their heads and stuck to the layer of sweat covering their bodies.
"What could possibly take my mind off of this?" The puppet sneered as he threw the whittled stick to the floor.
"Love." Jake said as turned to face the boy and shoved a pocket sized picture of Briar into his face.
"Well sorry to bust your love-sick bubble Jake, but love isn't going to make this 100 pound bag on my back any lighter." Pinocchio complained as he adjusted the straps of the bag around his abdomen and shoulders.
"Stop complaining, puppet! Maybe we should've left you with the women at the fort. You're the one who volunteered to come." Puck snapped as he wiped the wet pieces of blonde hair sticking to his forehead. "And you. No more talk of love. You're gonna make me break out in a rash." Puck said as he sneered at the mention of love and roughly poked Jake on his arm.
'I wanted to help! I want to learn how to be a man. A real man. I just didn't know it was going to be a week-long trek to the Hand. And I don't even have love to occupy my mind with Jake, unlike you." Pinocchio defended as he straightened his back and started quickening his pace to match the other men marching alongside him.
"Right, because you volunteering had nothing to do with you trying to impress Daphne." Uncle Jake grinned as he nudged his older brother with his elbow. The developing crush the growing puppet had on the smallest Grimm girl was obvious - to everyone but Daphne of course.
"Of course not! Like I said, this was a test of my strength and manly abilities." The small boy piped back as pink started creeping across his cheeks. Henry looked back at the blushing boy and sneered as Jake tried to cover his teasing smile.
"Better be lucky that you're not wooden any more, Pinocchio. Your nose probably would've been poking into Charming's horse by now." Puck said as he laughed and shoved the boy in front of him right into the backside of the horse.
"Knock it off will you!" Charming screamed as he reigned in his spooked horse. "Especially you, Henry and Jake. I expect more maturity out of the two of you."
"Don't get your panties in a twist, Charming." Jake said as he picked up a bag that detached itself from the horse's saddle. "We're just trying to not think about our aching bodies." He said sarcastically as he put himself back in line with his brother and the others.
"Fine. If you babies want some rest, we'll set up camp early. Get some rest. 2 hours and we head back onto the trail." Charming said as he dismounted his horse and led the troops to a somewhat dry patch of earth under a thicket of trees. Puck, Henry, Jake and Pinnochio all sat in a circle on the ground and passed around a canteen of warm water.
"I'm slowly starting to regret coming to this battle. Not only do I have to prepare myself for the possibility of death or injury, but I have to live through hell to get there." Pinocchio muttered as he took a small bit of the water and rubbed it across his face. None of the men corrected him this time as they took off their shirts and saw the sores and bites the straps of the heavy bags had dug across their shoulders.
"It could be worse." Jake said as he simply rubbed at the sores and burns across his body.
"How could it be worse?" Pinocchio exclaimed as he took strips of his shirt and tied it over the worn and irritated flesh.
"Well, we could be on this trek for no reason. At least we're all doing this for a reason. For the women back home. A girl worth fighting for." Jake said as he touched the fresh red rose Briar had tucked into his shirt pocket as she kissed him goodbye. "Thinking about her makes the trip worth it. If it means she can drink fresh water and eat until she is no longer hungry...then it's what I should do." Jake said as he took the canteen and drank a huge gulp.
"It's true boys. Pinocchio, if you want to be a man, that means providing. Sacrificing your needs for the needs of the girl you love. As long as that girl isn't my daughter." Henry added as he stared into Pinocchio's face and ripped the canteen from his brothers hands.
"Yeah whatever. Talking about how manly you all are. You're a bunch of saps is what you really are. Women have you wrapped around their little fingers. Fall in love Pinocchio and it'll turn you right back into a little puppet." Puck said as he fingered his flute and played little notes that made the pixies around his head dance.
"Don't play dumb, Puck. Try all you want, we all know your secret." Pinocchio said as he stuck his finger in the fairy's face.
"Nice try, marionette. I don't have secrets." Puck didn't even look up from his flute enough to answer him, but took an apple from his bag and bit a chunk out of it.
"Oh. So you don't love Sabrina?" Pinocchio said as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at the blonde. This resulted in Puck choking on his big chunk of apple and spewing it all over the floor. Henry dropped his gaze over to search the boy's face of an answer.
"Listen Hank, don't flatter yourself. The only one who's in love with your spawn is firewood over here." Puck said as he stuck his thumb towards Pinocchio after his choking subsided and his composure regained. Henry's face relaxed as he picked the canteen back up and continued to sip from it.
"You're lying." Pinocchio said as he squinted his eyes at the boy, as if he could see through him.
"I'm not." Puck said as he growled and placed his flute at his feet. "No offense to Henry over here, but his daughter's not really my type." Puck smiled as he reached over to take the canteen from Henry.
"Trust me, none taken. The farther my daughter is from you, the better." Henry said as he reached over and snatched the canteen back before Puck could take another sip. Puck replied with a smile and a wink at the oldest Grimm man.
"So what is your type then?" Jake questioned as he put the picture of Briar back into his shirt pocket along with the rose.
"Me. I'm my type. No mere woman is enough to grab the Trickster King's attention." Puck said as he took the canteen back and started drinking from it.
"I want a girl who's nice, you know? Really friendly and talented. Smart, too. Someone I can have intellectual conversations with. But who knows how to joke around and be funny, too." Pinocchio sighed as he gazed off into the trees. Until his eyes rested on Henry's who were burning holes into the boy's skin. "A girl that isn't Daphne, of course." Pinocchio hastily added as his gaze dropped onto his lap.
"Briar's definitely my type. She's beautiful, obviously. But she's not stuck up about it, you know? Like she's humble. And so damn kind. It's hard to wrap my mind around the selflessness she possesses. It's overpowering actually." Jake said as he laid down into his sleeping bag and put his hands behind his head.
"I remember that feeling. New love." Henry laughed as he started unrolling his own sleeping bag. "I've been with Ronnie so long, it's different now. A better different, though. It's like she's infuriating. Always has to be right. Stubborn. Hardheaded…. But damnit I love her. I love her so much. I would rather fight with that woman everyday then to be with anyone else. She's my best friend." Henry said as he settled down into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.
"I'm tryna sleep over here, and I can't do that with all this mushy-gushy conversation going on around me." Puck groaned as he tossed around in his sleeping bag. "Now if everyone could go to sleep and stop talking about love before I vomit, that would be great." He sarcastically barked as he pulled the blankets over his head.
"Alright Puck, whatever." The 3 men grumbled as they all settled into their bags and drifted off to sleep. Under the safety of his blankets Puck took the small picture of a pretty blonde girl out of his pocket and smiled at it softly.
"Sabrina Grimm."He whispered to himself as his fingertips traced the corners of the picture. "My girl worth fighting for." He sighed before tucking the picture back into his pocket and drifting off to sleep.
