Chapter 7
"Whoooa!"
CRASH!
Everyone looked up at the loud noise. It was outside, thank goodness. But what - or who - could have gone down?
"I'll get that." said Shang. He stood up and began to walk to the door.
Kim glanced out the window. She put her hand on Shang's arm. "No. You won't."
Shang threw Kim's hand off. "Don't tell me what to do, Possible Kimberly!"
"I go by Kim, remember? And trust me, you don't…"
Kim didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Shang had already opened the door. He looked around. "Nothing here… strange…"
That was when Shang looked down. A slender, tan-skinned brunette was sprawled out on the lawn. She must have tripped on something…
"Excuse me, miss, but are you all right?"
The brunette stood up, her narrow teal eyes glinting like ceremonial jade daggers. "My name is Bonnie!" she snapped. Then she saw who had come to her assistance. Hot guy… nice enough to help… time to play nice in return.
"Sorry about that." Bonnie's acidic attitude turned sweeter than soft caramel. "Just a little annoyed after Kim put that rock there…"
"Bonnie, you're so wrong!" Kim had since walked outside. "That mosaic stepping stone has been there for years, and you know it."
"Well, excuse me." said Bonnie, turning around and flipping her layered locks. "Forgot about your little third grade project."
"Eighth grade project that won first prize in the Tri-City Student Art Show." corrected Kim.
"Oh, just have to brag, don't you?" Bonnie retorted.
Just then, Mulan walked out. "Kim, who's the girl with the uneven hair?"
Bonnie fumed at that remark. "My name is Bonnie. And my hair is not uneven!"
Mulan got a little closer. "Nope." she noted. "It's uneven."
"I'll show you uneven hair!" threatened Bonnie, reaching into her pocket and brandishing a switchblade knife.
"Well, now I know that I won't turn my back on you." Mulan tried to sound tough, but her worry broke through.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Break it up, ladies." Shang tried to stop a potential fight before it started. Surprisingly, it worked: Bonnie put the knife away.
Kim rolled her eyes. "I told you two not to come outside…"
Shang began to fumble in his pockets. "Hmm… that's odd…"
"If you're looking for your dagger, you left it under the tree." said Mulan.
"Don't see it there." said Kim, scanning around the tree.
"Then where did it go?" asked Mulan.
That was when they heard a falcon's screech and wings taking to the air.
"Good work, Shuurga." said Galyn Khaan. The falcon had since returned to Drakken's new woodland lair. "Wait, what's that in your talons?"
Shuurga lifted one foot and loosened his grip. Galyn Khaan took the object - a dagger.
"This probably doesn't belong to her." said Galyn Khaan to himself.
He turned it over in his hands and examined the dagger. He started with the wooden handle. Olive-brown, very fine grain, with a cedar-like fragrance. Then he moved onto the steel blade - hard, the edges sharp, but far from brittle.
Laurel wood was expensive, and the metalwork was skilled. "She wouldn't have something this fine in her possession." concluded Galyn Khaan. "Only a higher officer could afford it…"
Realization dawned.
"...which means Li Shang must have joined her."
He looked at the dagger's handle again, and saw writing on a white patch. It wasn't calligraphy.
Galyn Khaan read aloud: "This knife belongs to Li Shang. If found, please return to owner."
He stuffed the knife in a bag he found earlier. "And return it I will." he gloated.
Drakken walked out from a cabin. "I don't know why you insisted on hiding in the forest, Galyn Khaan."
"I'm not hiding. I'm waiting." retorted Galyn Khaan.
"Waiting for what?" Shego's sarcastic voice came from inside the cabin. "I'm sick of roughing it."
Galyn Khaan answered. "Fa Mulan and Li Shang won't last long in the city before they're overwhelmed. Sooner or later, they'll want a respite from the chaos, and where better than the woodlands?"
Drakken almost interrupted, but Galyn Khaan continued. "They won't come alone. Kim and Ron will be with them. Then all four will be in our clutches."
"Brilliant plan!" Drakken's bad mood did a 180-degree shift.
Bonnie prepared to leave the three. "See you at school, losers." she spat. Then she pivoted, flipped her hair, began to leave - but tripped on that stepping stone. Again. Muttering a few nasty words, she left.
"Two for two." Mulan nodded in a satisfied manner. Kim agreed.
Shang grumbled. "Forget about that sour-tempered girl. Whoever took that dagger is in for it!" A tear came to his eye, but he forced it away. "That was my father's gift to me when I completed officer training…"
"Then we have to find it." resolved Kim.
Mulan agreed. "I hate to see Shang in tears."
Despite all Shang's attempts against crying, tears came anyway.
"Too late." said the girls in unison. Mulan went over to Shang and started cuddling him.
"City life is really messing us up." explained Mulan. "I think a little excursion to the woods would be nice."
"Not without me and Ron." said Kim. "The team has to stay together."
"Will the tent be big enough for 4?" asked Shang. He wasn't crying as hard now.
"My dad has a large tent." explained Kim. She looked nostalgic. "Before the tweebs were born, Dad used to take me to those woods for Constellation Camping."
"What's that?" asked Mulan.
Kim took a deep breath. "On weekends, Dad would take me out to the woods. We would stay up late to identify the constellations and tell their myths around the campfire. Then well before sunrise, we would wake up to see meteor showers and the planets."
"Sounds like fun." Shang didn't sound excited at all.
"Well, it's a chance to escape the city." prompted Mulan.
"Then let's get ready." said Kim. "I'll call Ron."
Ron met the rest of the team in woods, shortly before sunset. "Just in time for dinner!" he cheered.
"You still have to tell us what s'mores are." reminded Shang.
After a healthy dinner of Chinese dumplings, and s'mores for dessert, they pitched camp.
"Oh wow! S'mores are amazing!" Mulan had eaten five of the campfire sweets, and the sugar was making her hyper. She still had a bit of melted marshmellow on her cheek. Shang leaned over and kissed it away.
"Calm down, sweet magnolia. You can blossom in the morning." whispered Shang.
"You two…" Kim began, but then realized she wasn't any less mushy with Ron.
After everyone had settled down, they got into their sleeping bags and fell asleep.
"Hah." thought Galyn Khaan. "They're just where I want them…"
TO BE CONTINUED...