Honour to us All Chapter 3, a mulan fanfic

Honour to us All: Chapter 3

This is the third chapter in my story: if you have read the other two chapters you will probably have noticed that this is quite a slow starter, except for the news of Mulan's pregnancy but ignoring that. Now this chapter is more of a gap filler than part of the story, sorry but it does have some relevance to the rest of the story. So please bear with it and please R&R it for me, I will greatly appreciate it if you do. Thank you and enjoy.

The road was cold, the mountains colder. Tents had been placed in between the crevasses in the mountain paths, Mulan and her men were camping there after 2 days of non stop riding. Yao had begun to light a fire, but the fire was small, dim and pathetic. It would not help the troop warm them; neither would it give them light against the terror that is the darkness.

"Mulan," Yao moved over to Mulan, who was just about to enter into her tent and rest, "We have no fire!"

"Sorry Yao, I can't make the snow go away." Solemnly, she disappeared into her tent, whilst Yao sat alone, watching out for danger and shivering in the cold.

The sky quickly darkened, as did Yao's eyes. He was getting weary; he was in desperate need of some rest. Suddenly, a shadow caught his eye. Something was moving out there. He wanted to wake Mulan, but why bother? It could have been just a bird, or even a stray traveller. He slowly, but cautiously made his way down the path. He called out, asking if anyone was there. No response, but he could hear footsteps crunching through the snow behind him. Then another and another pair; the camp was in danger! He ran as fast as he could to the campsite and stormed his way into Mulan's tent.

"Mulan!" He yelled, desperately loud, "Mulan, something's heading to the camp!"

"Yao, are you sure?" Mulan leapt to her feet, grabbing her heavy sword and helmet in a desperate attempt to prepare herself.

"Yes, I heard footsteps in the snow! Someone's coming!"

"Wake the others! Hurry!"

The troop gathered at the head of the campsite, waiting for these men to emerge from the shadows of the night. Chien-Po's eyes kept shifting; he had heard something in the distance. But was it the same men that Yao had heard?

Ling's pulse raced, he was still not used to the fear of waiting for an imminent danger. He saw some shadows moving; he nudged Chien-Po and pointed at them. They both nodded and withdrew their swords from their sheathes. The rest of the troop felt the same tension and the same wariness of the shadows, they all drew their swords. Mulan kept hers sheathed. She knew there was danger, but something was stopping her from drawing it from its resting place.

Then the shadows were no longer shadows, a figure had emerged. A man, his body was large, although he definitely was not overweight. His shoulders were broad and his face was covered in shadow. Then more men emerged, only a few but enough to almost surround the camp.

Mulan's heart raced, that man! It couldn't be? Shan-Yu! He was alive! Her heart stopped, everything slowed. The men were moving towards them, Mulan's troop were getting ready to attack, but Mulan. Her mind wavered. Her hand was still placed on her sword handle but she was not drawing it. Ling noticed this, and yelled out her name in desperation. Still, there was no response. The men grew closer and closer, some men from behind had already reached them and men were fighting for their lives. Mulan could hear their cries, their struggles, she could hear the swords clashing with each other. It still did not awake her from her fear. The leader got closer, and closer to Mulan. Ling desperately made his way to Mulan, yelling at her, desperate for her to wake up from this nightmare. The leader's sword had been drawn, his face out of the shadows. It was not Shan-Yu! It was just a man; a normal man. Mulan finally awoke and drew her sword just as he was about to slash her neck. Ling sighed with relief as he joined her side; fighting together against these men who had dared ambush them.

The battle did not last long, as more and more of the enemy began to fall the more they fled. They were not the bandits that the Emperor had sent them to deal with, their numbers were to few, and they were to far into China. They were just mountain dwellers; they took any opportunity they could to attack passers for food or money. They were not dangerous, as they were only few.

"Is everyone alright!" Mulan yelled, there were a few cuts and scrapes, but thankfully everyone was fine. Knowing that everyone was safe, Mulan tried to hide away from them. She knew what had happened, and so did Ling.

"Mulan" Ling whispered angrily, trying not to draw any attention from the rest of the troop. When Ling caught up with her, he gently pulled her aside for an explanation. "Mulan, what happened to you?"

"Ling I don't know what you mean." Mulan hid her eyes from his, turning her head hoping that he wouldn't catch on to the lie.

"You were deadly frozen! You could have been killed!"

"I wasn't scared Ling!" Mulan stormed away, realising that her lie was actually the truth.

Ling joined the rest of the troop; all of them were staring at him as if they knew what had just happened. No one dared to approach him, but then with great courage, Yao and Chien-Po advanced to him. They had seen it as well, Mulan's fear. Something was wrong.

"Ling, what's wrong with her?" Chien-Po asked him in his gentle voice,

"I don't know. She just stood there frozen, she could have been killed."

"She could have been scared though, just nerves."

"But Mulan has faced so much more than a few bandits. Something's different with her." Chien-Po said with much sorrow in his voice.

"One of us should try and talk to her; I mean it must be hard being the only woman here." Yao, gazed upon Ling, then Ling gazed upon Chien-Po. It was as if they didn't want to go, but deep down, it was because they didn't know what to say.

Mulan sat alone beside the pathetic fire; she had wrapped herself in a dark blue blanket which was decorated with a small white rose in a corner. Chien-Po stood over her; she hadn't noticed that he was there until he sat down by her side. He offered her his jacket, but she pushed it away politely, shaking her head.

Chien-Po then looked up at the stars,

"The stars are beautiful tonight." He looked at Mulan, who just kept looking diagonally away from him, she knew that he was going to try and comfort her. She wanted that comfort so much, but she knew that anything he would say would not and could not help her through this difficult time.

"Mulan, I saw what happened. During the fight; please Mulan tell me what's wrong."

"I wasn't scared Chien-Po"

"I never said you were. And I have no doubt that you weren't afraid." Chien-Po tried to bring her face so it would look upon his own, just so that he could smile a reassuring smile. But Mulan refused, and kept her head pointed towards the floor. "Whenever I'm afraid, or upset; I find a song helps. My mother taught me lots of nursery rhymes when I was younger; my favourite was two old tigers. Have you heard it?" Mulan kept her gaze fixed upon the ground, and then Chien-Po started to sing his little tune.

Two old tigers

Running very fast

One has no eyes

One has no tail

How strange!

Mulan looked up at him, almost in confusion to his little song. "I've never heard that before. My father didn't really teach me any nursery rhymes."

"Then you haven't lived." He smiled at her, and she finally smiled back at him.

"There was one little thing that my mother taught me." She began to sing, her cold and croaky voice couldn't be heard by much around her.

Fire-fly, fire-fly,

Come from the hill,

Your father and mother

Are waiting here still.

They've brought you some sugar,

Some candy, and meat,

For baby to eat.

A tear fell from her eye, that song was a reminder of her childhood which she had almost forgotten until now. She smiled as she pictured her and her mother dancing daftly to that song. She was only 4 years old when she learned that song. She had forgotten it, but now she could remember it as clear as daylight.

"Thank you, Chien-Po. Thank you."

"You're welcome little cherry blossom" He smiled at her gently, and then went back into his tent. Leaving Mulan alone, to dwell in her forgotten past.