DISCLAIMER: this chapter doesn't belong to me either! It belongs to icedragon6171!

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are the rightful property of Disney, except for Luo Jin, who belongs to me :)

Towards the Setting Sun

Chapter 7

Their late arrival in Lanzhou brought much relief to the travelling party after nearly two weeks on the road. To Shang, it couldn't have been timed better. The rainstorm of the last week had lasted almost forty-eight hours, and they had ridden hard in order to make up for lost time. Not only that, but their supply of food had been running dangerously low, seeing as each soldier had with them only just enough for the original journey. Now, they gladly rode towards the city, even as the sun was sinking towards its rest and night began to blanket the sky once again.

At the city gates they were met by two soldiers of the garrison stationed there, and were promptly waved through upon sight, the General's armour Shang wore giving them immediate access. Nodding to the men in thanks, Shang led the party through the wide wooden gates as they creaked open, revealing a busy market street lined with stalls and full of jostling city folk, apparently unfazed by the onset of night. The aroma of spices hung heavily in the air, and from the corner of his eye Shang could see Mulan staring at a stall that was almost completely hidden behind gigantic rolls of silk.

She is still a woman, after all. Shang mused, a ghost of a smile flitting across his lips. Turning to face the line of soldiers behind him, he saw that they, too, were looking about them at the various sights. Clearly few of them had been to a trading town such as this before, so unlike anywhere else as it was. Shang let out a shout to divert their attention, and waved for them to follow him. Spurring his horse forward in a brisk trot, he broke through the crowd, forging a path before them.

"Where are we going?" Mulan asked to his left, keeping close to his side. Khan appeared to be nervous in the large crowd, and it was apparent that Mulan was having a little difficulty getting him to ride in line. After giving another quick glance behind him to make sure all of the soldiers were keeping up, he turned back to the road ahead of them, looking towards the thin shadow hanging over the roofline of the city ahead of them, where the ground was a little higher.

"The garrison here is stationed inside the barracks, over there." He pointed and Mulan followed the line of his finger with her eyes. "They should be able to house us for the time-being."

"Have you been here before?" Mulan inquired, apparently having noticed his familiarity with the place. Shang nodded, manoeuvring slightly left to avoid a wandering goat and nudging into Mulan in the process. Khan skittered sideways almost instantaneously, and Mulan nearly lost her balance at his sudden movement.

"My father brought me here when I was younger…"Shang replied, but his throat was clenching painfully with buried grief, preventing him from saying more. Sorrowfully, he turned his face from her and struggled with the turmoil of his emotions, annoyed at his weakness. Guilt seemed to pour off Mulan in waves, but this only caused Shang to feel angrier with himself.

"I'm sorr-"

"Don't be." Shang cut in, regretting the sharp edge his feelings lent to his words. Mulan recoiled ever so slightly, so Shang calmed himself and went on, "It's not your fault."

"But-"

"Mulan," her name was said with a trace of tenderness. "If there is one thing I have learnt, it is that war will cause many undeserving deaths, no matter how great the lives of those in it." He paused, collecting his scattered thoughts. "There is no glory in that. No honour."

"Your father died doing what was right." Mulan reassured him, blinking as though struck by memory, but continued. "His life was given in order to save those of others." The cheer of the market did little to lighten Shang's mood, and he found himself desperately wanting to get away from the narrow streets and the clinging scent of spices, feeling claustrophobic. However, knowing that Mulan was right, Shang kept a melancholy silence, detachedly riding down the streets of Lanzhou, the mass of people slowly dispersing as they left the market behind.

The barracks that would be their home for the next few days loomed uninvitingly ahead of them. It was quite an ugly building to an eye so used to the refined shapes of the Imperial city, fashioned from rough stone blocks as it was and completely bereft of any form of decoration. Even the surrounding buildings seemed to lean away from the forbidding structure. The gates to the barracks were closed, and Shang drew his horse to a halt in front of them.

"State your business!" A voice called from the top of the defensive wall surrounding the barracks. The top of a helmet could just be seen peeking over the edge.

Spurring his mount forward two steps, Shang called out: "This is General Li requesting quarters for thirty-two mounted soldiers." A muffled shuffling answered Shang's words, and before long the gates to the barracks creaked open. A portly man strode forth, bedecked in the garb of a Captain and looking far too haughty for his own good. The man stopped a few feet in front of them, and peered sceptically at Shang with his hand twitching fitfully on the hilt of his sword. No doubt he was wondering how someone so young could possibly be his superior.

"Very well." The man said at length, glancing down the assembled ranks of the soldiers before him. He bowed shortly. "You are welcome here."

Their horses were seen to in an orderly fashion by some of the garrisoned soldiers, and Shang watched the proceeds, Mulan by his side. She was clutching her saddlebags to her chest, and Shang could tell that she was nervous, even scared, to a degree, no matter how valiantly she tried to conceal it. Presently, the portly captain who welcomed them approached, giving another formal bow to Shang and casting a distasteful glance at Mulan, who had made no effort to conceal her gender. Shang felt his opinion of the man plummet.

"I am Captain Yuan," he said, puffing his chest out, yet only succeeding to make himself appear more corpulent. Shang suppressed the urge to make a face.

"General Li Shang." Shang replied, hoping his revulsion at the short man wasn't apparent. "This is Captain Fa Mulan." He continued, daring the man to voice what was obviously at the forefront of his conceited little mind. To Shang's disappointment, however, the Captain merely bowed in mock respect, and Mulan courteously mirrored the gesture. Without another word, Captain Yuan marched off into the building, waving at them from over his shoulder. Shang was annoyed at the man's audacity and lack of respect, but for now he was too tired and hungry to care.

The room that Shang was led to was gloomy, much like the rest of the building, equipped with only the bare essentials for the accommodation of soldiers; a straw pallet on top of a somewhat rickety base occupied most of one wall, opposite which was an equally decrepit chair and table. However, it was better than a wet tent on rough ground, and it was at least mildly warm thanks to the coal brazier by the door. Pausing only to set his saddlebags on the chair, Shang headed back out into the hallway, and walked towards the mess hall.

The mess hall was already filling with soldiers coming in for an evening meal of unflavoured rice and dumplings, and Shang, exploiting his position to his fullest, made his way to the front of the queue, glad he didn't have to bide by the soldiers' disorderly jostling. Sitting on one of the less worn tables which he assumed was reserved for officials, he surveyed the gathered troops, mentally counting off each of the thirty who had accompanied him here. Eventually Mulan appeared in the doorway, immediately seeking him out and pushing her way towards him. With a smile, she set herself down beside him.

"Aren't you hungry?" He asked her.

"No," She replied, shaking her head. "Maybe later, though." Shang nodded his head and resumed his meal.

"Captain Yuan doesn't like me." Mulan commented quietly. Her back was ramrod straight.

"He won't dare say anything." Shang reassured her, taking another mouthful of rice.

Across from them, Luo Jin joined the queue. Mulan's demeanour brightened immediately, and she waved at him across the room. Shang felt the familiar annoyance rise up at the other man but snuffed it. He knew that Mulan valued the slender man as a friend, a connection to the village she had left behind, and kept his silence. Yet he couldn't help but notice the way they interacted with each other, so different to the way that she acted around him, and felt jealousy stirring in its dark pit.

His rice now finished, Shang took another count of the soldiers in the room, seeing that their entire troop was now present. Standing from his place, he struck the table's surface with the flat of his hand to catch their attention. The resultant crack was slightly louder than he had intended, but succeeded desirably in turning all heads in the room to look at him.

"Soldiers," he barked, "I hear the inns here in Lanzhou are very welcoming this time of year." He paused, gauging the gathered troops, seeing their anticipation as to his next words. "See that you enjoy them." A cheer went up in the hall, and suddenly there was a stream of men rushing out of the door, as Shang had expected there might be. By the time the flow had stopped, Shang, a rather surprised Mulan and a few soldiers from the garrison were all that remained in the mess hall. Chuckling to himself, Shang sat himself back down.

"Aren't you going with them?" Mulan asked eventually, still looking at the door.

"No." He said, then thanked the cook for the cup of tea that was handed to him. He took a sip, and sighed contentedly at the sensation of the hot liquid running its way down his throat.

"Why?"

"The prospect of getting drunk holds little appeal to me," he replied, rolling the little cup between his hands and watching the liquid swirl about lazily. "I have more important things to do."

Mulan accepted the answer quietly, before saying, "They'll be in no condition to be riding tomorrow, though."

Shang took another sip of his tea. "I know."

"Then why do it? We won't be able to leave tomorrow, now."

"It wasn't my intention to leave tomorrow anyway," Shang said, draining the last of his tea and setting the cup back on the table. "As for why I did it… Morale, Mulan. They are a long way from home, most of them, and need the pleasures an inn can offer to keep them in order. Besides which -"

Captain Yuan chose that moment to rush in the room in a slightly ridiculous swirl of too-long cape, strutting up to them with a face so red he looked ready to burst. Coming to a huffy stop before them, he mopped his brow with a dirty rag and produced as terrible a frown as he could muster. Mulan seemed somewhat alarmed, but Shang kept a composed expression, and waited quietly for the short Captain to speak, letting the irritation at his interruption simmer.

"Where have all the soldiers gone?" Captain Yuan demanded, his face seemingly turning three shades redder, if that was possible.

"I gave them permission to visit the inns for the evening." Shang replied evenly, fixing the captain with a withering look. A new sheen of sweat began to glisten on the Captain's brow

"What did you do that for?"

Who did this fool think he was? Shang narrowed his eyes coldly and stood slowly from his seat, rounding the table to tower above the diminutive man before him. Captain Yuan shrank back from him, almost stumbling over a chair on the adjacent table. Catching himself, the Captain stood rooted to the spot under Shang's fierce glare.

"What I do is not of concern to you, Yuan," Shang said, his voice dangerous. "You may be a Captain, but I can still have you whipped for your insolence."

Captain Yuan was frozen to the spot, looking both frightened and furious at once.

"But-"

"Am I understood?" Shang demanded sharply of the man. The Captain nodded jerkily in response. "You are dismissed." Shang ordered, and luckily the Captain chose not to argue further, hurriedly exiting the hall and mopping his brow once more in the process. Once the last corner of the arrogant man's red cape disappeared from sight, Shang let the façade drop, reassuming his natural posture with a sigh. Would he always be hounded by fools as long as he was a General?

"As I was saying…" Shang continued, turning back to Mulan and motioning for her to walk with him. She rose slowly, but obediently fell into step at his side "We will need to obtain more supplies for the next part of the journey, as well as a guide. I haven't been any further west than this, and the deserts beyond are dangerous for those unfamiliar with them."

"Deserts?" Mulan asked, frowning. Her step faltered slightly, but she recovered smoothly.

"We will be skirting the Tarim Basin on the way to Kashgar." He told her, then asked, "Have you ever heard of the Taklamakan Desert, Mulan?"

Apparently she had, judging by the way her eyes widened with surprise. "I thought no-one ever came out of there alive!" She exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch.

"Well, they must have done. The Silk Road goes right through it." Shang chuckled.

"Is there no other way?" She asked hopefully, wringing her hands anxiously in front of her.

"Not unless we want to arrive in the dead of winter." He replied, losing the humour in his tone. It was true. The only other route would take them further north and would require them to cross mountains to reach their destination, therefore almost doubling the length of their journey. The onset of winter would make the passage through the mountains treacherous to say the least, and would likely mean their death. No, it was better this way.

"So…" Mulan began slowly, drawing away from the previous topic, "what do we do when we get to Kashgar? It will be too late in the year to go anywhere by that time. We will have to wait until spring before we try to do that."

"By the time we get there, new recruits will be arriving in preparation for their training. While this is happening, we also need to gather necessary supplies for our trip west, and, like you said, wait until early spring to march upon the Turks."

"How many recruits are we expecting?"

"As many as we can get, plus more besides. Many thousands I expect." He paused his step at the end of a branching corridor, and heaved his shoulders in a great sigh. He continued in a muted whisper, "It's a lot of lives to be responsible for."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Mulan said in response, reassuring him, for once. Even though Shang could see the doubt that lurked at the back of her gaze, he gave her an appreciative smile, thankful for her efforts. He patted her lightly on the shoulder, wordlessly bidding her goodnight before returning to the solitude of his temporary room.

Shang began to doubt the wisdom of the decision he had made the day before when he saw the state the soldiers were in. The early morning revealed the ten men selected for their trip into the town to be barely semi-conscious, staggering with the after-effect of heavy dosages of alcohol and leaning upon one another for support as they clutched their heads in pain. Even Luo Jin, usually poised and somewhat graceful in a masculine way was looking worse for wear, his complexion pale and sickly. Shang crossed his arms, wishing that it were easier to conceal his pleasure at the other man's misfortune.

The horses were brought before them shortly after the emergence of the hung-over soldiers, and soon they were heading down the incline towards the city proper. Shang kept them at a deliberate trot, knowing that the continuous jolting of the horses' gaits would wake them, if uncomfortably. Mulan seemed oblivious to his purpose, merely giving him a disapproving glance that he would pain the others so. He fought the urge to smile back at her, fearing both her reaction and those of the soldiers following them, although they would admittedly be hard pressed to notice, so absorbed in their own discomfort as they were.

"Here." He said finally, tossing a small bag of gold coins to Mulan, who caught them with ease even as she rode. She opened the bag and pulled out a string of coins, her eyes widening ever so slightly. "I need you to buy the supplies for our journey."

Frowning, she asked, "What do we need, and how much?"

"Dried food enough for thirty-two – preferably to last us the rest of the journey – perhaps one sack of rice, some more water skins and a cart to carry everything in. If there is anything else that may be useful, I trust you to see to it."

She blushed modestly in the face of his favour towards her, but recovered swiftly, asking, "And what of you?"

"I am to find our guide." He replied, halting the group before the first of the market stalls. "Now, take five men with you, and I'll see you back at the barracks." Nodding, Mulan turned to the men and began to select those to accompany her. Knowing, immediately, who she meant to pick before all others, Shang interrupted her mid-sentence, calling out "Luo Jin, you're with me." Bewildered, the man gave a nervous glance in Mulan's direction, and she in turn turned to fix him with a look that was both confused and annoyed all at once, but Shang merely ignored it and picked four others to accompany him. Even as he rode into the crowded marketplace, he could feel her eyes boring holes into his back.

Luo Jin hesitantly rode up beside him, and asked, "Did you have a disagreement with Captain Fa, General?" Shang shot him a withering glance, and noted with pleasure the way that Jin drew away ever so slightly, intimidated.

"No."

The man obviously wished to question him further, but decided against demanding reasons for a General's actions. Shang almost felt disappointed, knowing that such actions would allow him to dole out some punishment or other, as he saw fitting. A fraction of a second later, Shang asked himself where all of his ill-will towards Jin had come from, because in truth the man didn't seem that bad; the other soldiers liked him well, as did Mulan, who herself had had very few friends in the past.

Am I… jealous?

"Sir?" Jin's voice beside him startled him from his reverie, and Shang dearly hoped that the soldiers hadn't noticed him jump. He turned to face Jin, schooling his face into an impassive mask. "Where are we going?"

Shang was momentarily caught off guard. Where were they going? Gathering his wits, Shang stopped his horse and tried to look as authoritative as possible. "Where would you look for a guide, Luo Jin?" He replied, calmly, his tone almost condescending. The man was turning slowly red, recognising that the question was meant to make him look stupid, as though he had no grasp on that which was obvious. Satisfied that the decision was taken off of his shoulders, Shang watched as Jin groped for an answer.

"A guide? Well… we're on the silk route, a guide would be a merchant so, uh… he might be selling something in the market – I mean here – but you would have thought of that…" Jin stumbled with his words, descending for a moment into an unintelligible mutter and fidgeting with the reigns to his horse. Behind Shang, the other soldiers were sniggering among themselves, and even Shang couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "A merchant would have coins from selling things… money…" He paused. "A… an inn, General?"

"Yes, Jin," Shang replied with a slight incline of his head. Despite the initial fumble for an answer, the man had some sense at least. If Shang had been thinking properly, it probably would have occurred to him also, and so he mentally gave Jin some credit, although his overall opinion of him remained relatively unchanged. "Now, you will be my guide to said inn." Shang held his hand out in a commanding gesture to take lead, and all at once Jin's awkwardness vanished. He rode forward with all the arrogance of a vain peacock, stirring his horse – a handsome white gelding mottled with grey across it's rump and neck – to a trot.

The inn was little more than a shabby house at a cross roads, with shards of shattered roof tiles spread about it and plaster crumbling from its walls. Despite it's apparent state of disrepair, the inn did boast a small army of patrons, many of which looked more like thieves and ruffians than the inhabitants of a great city of the Empire. Shang caught the glint of knives concealed beneath tabletops upon their entrance, and was immediately glad he had chosen to bring the soldiers with him. Gathering his nerves, Shang decided that standing in the doorway would do little to solve their problem.

"I need a guide," he announced to the room at large, in as imperious a voice as he could muster. The silence that greeted him was deafening, if brief. Then, one of the patrons stood, eyeing him warily.

"Where are you to, General?" The sneering emphasis on Shang's official title made it clear that these men had little care for his power, only his money.

"Kashgar."

"General," a new voice called from the back, and a wiry man dressed in loose, travel worn clothing approached Shang. Everything about the man proclaimed him a traveller, from the foreign style of his clothes to the leathery brown complexion of his face. Shang found himself being promptly ushered out of the inn, the strange man behind him. Once outside, they faced each other, unflinchingly meeting the other's gaze while the five soldiers fanned around them. Shang searched at his waist for the small bag hanging there, his gaze never leaving the traveller's face, and, contented that his money hadn't been stolen, waved the soldiers off.

"So, you are going to Kashgar… that is a very long way, General," The man said, grinning a lopsided smile that showed the gaps in his teeth. Dimly, gold glittered also. "I may be willing to take you there… for a price."

Shang studied the traveller's face. Now that they were out of the dim shelter of the inn, he could see the merchant more clearly. He was certainly not a youthful man, judging by the lines worn into his face and the grey that mottled his temples. He was, indeed, very wiry, his bones looking no stronger than that of a bird's. However, appearances could be deceiving, and this man, for all his apparent weakness, was probably little more than a common thief. Even so, they were in desperate need of a guide, and from the reactions of the inn's patrons, it didn't appear as though they had much choice in the matter.

"Very well. What are your terms?"

...

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I have been really busy. I hope it's OK. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.

Shout-outs!

misswildfire - I think most of the problem is that there aren't enough stories being written, actually, but you are right that there are some fics which aren't that good. Thanks for your review! It's always nice to see someone new.

Im going to ask Matt - Thanks for your reviews (all 3 of them!) Hope you keep reading.

theITgirl - Thanks for your support! It's hard for me to figure out whether my writing is any good, but I suppose it would be wouldn't it? Anyway, thanks again for your continued support, and your reviews!

CluelessAngel - The conflicts are there to make the story more interesting I suppose, as I can't think of many other ways to do the same. Maybe you could give a few suggestions?

Angel452 - Luo Jin is just a friend, although it will become more complicated later on. Thanks for your review.

Don't worry everyone! This is a Shang/Mulan fic, but it will just take a long time! Until next time!

icedragon6171