Chapter Thirty-Six
(Song in this chapter is "Lesson Number One" from the movie "Mulan II".)
Down inside the mountain, one of the goblins had said, "Flood the mine! A message from the King! We're ordered to flood the mine!" The goblin at the dam nodded and removed the one boulder holding the whole thing together. The dam collapsed, quickly flooding the tunnels with thousands of gallons of water. It had moved into the mine, but the minors had thought of ahead, years ago, and created their own dam to keep it from flooding and killing them. The water rushed on by without any harm to them.
Curdie felt like he had let everyone in Nesidy down. He and Taran had warned everyone that the Goblins were after Aralyne, and now she went missing… again. While he was helping search the mansion for her, he heard a slight rushing sound from underneath the building. Almost like running water, he mused, then his brown eyes widened when he recalled the goblins wanting to break the damn and flood the mines. But the mines are too far from here, unless it's coming to the mansion through the tunnel the goblins made!
He grabbed Anya, who was nearby and said, "You have to get everyone out of here! The goblins were trying to flood the mine, but we blocked it up! There's only one way the water can escape!"
Tulio was running by and heard the news. Swearing, he said, "We still need to find Aralyne!" Both knew that this was just as important as saving everyone's life. Curdie left the room and ran throughout the mansion telling everyone to get out of the mansion, then went down into the kitchen, with a slight hint of hope that she might be down there.
He heard a muffled scream, and saw a flash of pink dress. "Who's that? Aralyne?"
Okay, so there wasn't much of a fight against Froglip. Every time I had tried stomping on his feet, he dodged, and eventually captured me, placing a nasty grimy hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming. We snuck through the castle, hiding from everyone that was trying to search for me, and brought me down to the kitchen. Before he could drag me down the tunnel, we heard footsteps enter the kitchen, so he pulled me behind several bales of wine, and I tried screaming, to grab their attention. Of course it came out muffled, and it must have worked, because I heard a child's voice say, "Who's that? Aralyne?"
What I was about to do, made me gag, and I had to swallow back the vomit that was slowly creeping up my throat. I bit Froglip's hand as hard as I could until I tasted blood. He hissed in pain, removing his hand from my mouth, and I spat out the blood, along with a bit of puke. At that time, I saw a figure step before us. "Curdie, look out!"
"Froglip!" the child snarled glaring at the goblin.
"Don't you come one step nearer," he warned scratching me with one of his long, sharp nails, "Or I'll wring her neck!" Curdie didn't move, and I could see the despair on his face. Poor kid. "She's mine now! I'm taking her back with me!" the goblin cried dragging me towards the tunnel.
"No!" Curdie cried, "Not down there! You won't stand a chance!"
I gave him a terrified look. What?!
"Oh, yeah?" snarled Froglip, "You try stopping me, Sun Boy!"
"But the water! It's coming down the tunnel!" he warned as we entered the tunnel.
Water?! What water?!
"You don't really think I'll be fooled by that old trick," scoffed my captor, "I'm not stupid!"
Then before us came a great deal of water, sweeping over all three of us in a wave….
Water gushed around the mansion, flooding every part of the first floor, but thankfully everyone had made it out. Unfortunately, water was flowing out of the building and came up to people's knees, but the flow was quickly increasing.
Aralyne must have still been inside! Tulio thought desperately, then trudged right back towards the mansion.
"Tulio, what are you doing?!" Susan Pevensie demanded grabbing his arm, "You'll be killed!"
"I lost her once. I'm not going to lose her again," he declared pulling out of her grasp and continuing on his way. He entered the mansion calling out her name. "Aralyne! Aralyne!" This time if she dies, it'll be my fault! The water then increased in speed, and rose ever higher….
The water burst out of the mansion, flooding the surrounding area. Goblins and furniture were being washed downhill into the river. The Nesidy citizens had managed to cross the bridge on time and were now safe. Curdie was washed into the river and went down a ways before grabbing onto a boulder and holding on for dear life. He climbed onto the boulder and looked around for Aralyne, calling out her name.
Dammit! I wish I was still a mermaid! I thought as I was hugging a tree branch to keep from being swept by the flood. The branch broke, and I was taken down under water for a moment. I popped back up, I coughed up some water. Over the rush of the river, I heard Curdie yelling my name.
I quickly looked around to see him sitting on a boulder, and I was headed right for him. "Curdie!"
"It's okay, Aralyne! I'll catch you when you float by!"
"You can't the current's too strong!"
"Trust me!"
The moment I was near the boulder, our hands clasped, but just barely. The current was trying to pull away, which made it difficult for Curdie to help me up. Finally, with one giant heave, he pulled me onto the boulder, and we sat there in relief.
"Thank you, Curdie," I panted giving him a small smile and a hug.
"I told you, you could trust me."
I then saw a horrible creature heading in our direction. "Curdie, look out!"
Froglip grasped Curdie's ankle and used it to haul himself onto the boulder with us. "I've come for my bride!" he growled. Bride?! I had to swallow back more vomit. The goblin then attacked Curdie. "Take a last look at him, princess, before I break his back!"
"Let him go!" I shouted punching Froglip's foot. He cried out in pain, and Curdie managed to shove him back into the river. The villain got washed away with the rest of his brethren.
"Are you alright?" I asked Curdie, brushing his hair out of his face.
"Yeah, thanks," he said giving me a smile.
Danny and Dani then flew over to us in their Phantom forms.
"We saw you being washed down the current," Dani exclaimed grasping Curdie's hand. She lifted him off the boulder and flew him over to safety. Danny then wrapped an arm around my waist and we followed them.
"Thanks, Danny," I said when he had set me on solid ground.
"No problem," he said giving me a wink, then flew off with his cousin.
Before the others could surround us, I grabbed Curdie's hand and said, "You're my hero, Curdie. Thank you." I then gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush.
"Aralyne!" I turned to see Tulio, soaking wet, running towards me. "I'm so glad you're okay." I blinked up at him with a vacant expression, then suddenly glared at him, and slapped him across the face. Tulio stumbled backwards, but quickly regained his balance, and placed a hand upon his burning cheek. "I guess I deserved that," he said removing his hand and reaching out to me. "Well, at least you're not hurt."
I pulled away from him. "Physically? No. Emotionally? Yes," I said, crossing my arms over my chest, openly glaring at him. "I can't believe you locked me up!"
"I was trying to protect you," he said defensively, "I didn't want to see you hurt, or dead again! That was the worst thing I had ever experienced!"
"My job is to protect you!" I shouted poking him in the chest, "And I can't do that if you treat me like a child! I get that you want to protect me, but so do they!" I gestured to the Nesidy citizens who were watching with half frightened, half amused looks on their faces. "They at least let me fight! I'm not as defenseless as I look and you know it! And in case you've forgotten, Tzekel-Kan was going to kill you until I stepped in! I've had my share of beating on the villains, and not to mention, Edward and I saved everyone from the sea monster! Ella and I also saved your worthless ass from the sirens! I'm not a helpless little girl, Tulio, I –"
I never got to finish my rant. He suddenly grabbed me and said, "Oh, shut up, all ready." Then leaning forward, he kissed me full on the lips.
"Okay, you're forgiven," I said dreamily, as he pulled away from me. Laughing, he gave me another kiss.
The Hun army came to a stop by a marsh. Two of Phoebus's soldiers were found and dragged out of a tree and thrown before Shan Yu.
"Imperial Scouts," said one of the Huns.
The first soldier stared up fearfully at the Hun leader and whispered, "Shan Yu!"
"Nice work, gentlemen. You've found the Hun army," Shan Yu growled. The Huns laughed.
The second soldier replied defiantly, "Lao Shi will stop you!"
Shan Yu stared at him in mock surprise. "Stop me! He invited me. By trying to protect Aralyne, he challenged my strength. Well, I'm here to play his game. Go! Tell your leader to send his strongest armies. I'm ready."
The two soldiers scurried off, one after the other.
Scratching his chin, Shan Yu asked his archer, "How many men does it take to deliver a message?"
"One," the archer grinned aiming for one of the soldiers.
All of Anya's guests had returned home and were now sound asleep. Grandpa had not gone to Anya's party, but he did hear about it. He was concerned for Aralyne's safety, of course, and was glad to hear she was fine. He even heard of the lovers spat between her and Tulio. He should have known better than to have locked her up.
One of Phoebus's soldiers ran up to Grandpa looking as if he'd seen a ghost. "Grandpa, the Huns! They're on their way! They're after Aralyne!"
A grim looked crossed his face. "Very well. We'll be ready for them."
I woke up early the next morning in Tulio's arms. He was still sound asleep, and I kissed him on the cheek before slipping out of bed. For a moment, my mind slipped to my brother, a slight pang in my heart. He would throw a fit if he knew that I slept in the same bed with a man, but it's not like we did anything. I changed out of my Happy Feet Two pajamas (how I've missed them!) and quietly left the house. Tulio told me last night that Captain Amelia had given him a job, and he was to start working today, so I didn't have to worry about him being on my case for being out of his sight. He thought I was going to be at work, but decided to skip today and I felt bad for not telling him. I had more important things to do, anyways.
After walking for a while, I came upon Mulan's house and knocked on the door. Her mother, Li, answered the door.
"Hello, Aralyne," she said with a smile.
"Good morning," I said, "Is Mulan here?"
"She's out in the field," Li explained.
"Yeah, doing her chores," said Grandma Fa giving me a wink. I grinned at her, getting the message. I loved Grandma Fa!
"I'll go help her. Thank you," I said with a nod, then left the house. When I got to the field, I saw Mulan practicing her karate moves and a group of young girls were watching her. Mulan's dog started barking at us, and she turned our way in surprise.
"It's okay, Little Brother," she said calming him down, then asked us, "What's going on here?"
Apparently the girls were here for the exact same reason I was because, Alice said, "We want to be like you, Mulan."
"But I'm still learning myself," she said gazing at all of us.
"Please," begged Anne-Marie.
"Okay. I guess I can show you a few moves," Mulan agreed smiling at the girls. She then sent me a questioning look.
"I would like to learn, too," I answered and she nodded.
"Mulan's gonna teach us how to kick butt!" Ashley Spinelli cried, causing the rest of the girls to cheer.
"Hold it, calm down," Mulan said with a laugh, "That's lesson number two. The first and most important lesson is to be gentle. At the same time, we're being tough."
"How can you be tough and gentle?" Eilonwy inquired.
"Yeah, I want to be tough!" shouted Cindy Vortex.
"Yeah!"
"I know it does sound a little funny, huh?" Mulan said, "But the world is full of opposites, and so are you. To be a good warrior, you must bring it all into balance."
When the girls gave her a blank look, I stepped in saying, "Let's see if this helps.
Earth, sky. Day, night.
Sound and silence.
Dark and light."
Mulan grinned at me and started singing while performing some karate moves.
"One alone is not enough
You need both together
Winter, summer
Moon and sun
Lesson number one"
"Wow!"
"Like a rock
You must be hard
Like an oak
You must stand firm
Cut quick like my blade
Think fast
Unafraid"
The girls and I repeated the song as well as some of her moves.
"Like a rock
I must be hard
Like an oak
I must stand firm
Cut quick like my blade
Think fast
Unafraid"
"Okay, Mulan, I'm ready," said Coraline Jones.
"Uh-huh," Mulan said giving her a skeptical look, "But you're still out of balance. You're only halfway there."
"Like a cloud
You are soft
Like bamboo
You bend in the wind
Creeping slow
You're at peace because you know
It's okay to be afraid"
Again, we repeated the song and her movements.
"Like a cloud
I am soft
Like bamboo
I bend in the wind
Creeping slow
I'm at peace because I know
It's okay to be afraid"
We all broke up into groups, practicing the moves Mulan had shown us.
"One alone is not enough
(One alone is not enough)
You need both together
(You need both together)
(You need both together)
Winter, summer
Moon and sun
(Winter, summer, moon, and sun)
(Winter, summer, moon, and sun)
Lesson number one
Like a cloud/Like a rock
I am soft/I must be hard
Like bamboo/Like an oak
I bend in the wind/I must stand firm
You can fly
Creeping slow/Cut quick
I'm at peace because I know/Like my blade
It's okay to be afraid/Think fast! Unafraid!
You have begun
Lesson number one
Lesson number one
Lesson number one
Lesson number one
Lesson number one"
When the lesson was over, I heard a horse whinny and turned to see a soldier riding our way. "It's General Shang."
Shang brought his horse to a halt, and jumped off, smiling at the children. "Hello, little warriors."
"Your new uniform suits you, General," Mulan said complimenting him.
"The uniform, yes. Now I just have to live up to it," he muttered.
"Of course you will," I said with a smile, "You're very brave."
He nodded his thanks then said to Mulan, "We need to talk. It's important."
A look passed between them then she turned to the children and said, "Okay, everybody. Time to be like the river and flow home."
The girls groaned and scampered away. I started leaving, too, but Shang called me back. "Hold on, Aralyne, this concerns you." I turned to him in curiosity and he got straight to the point. "The Huns are coming, an entire army, and they're after Aralyne." I froze and narrowed my eyes in determination as he continued, "Grandpa wants me to raise an army so that we'll be prepared. Mulan, I'm going to need your help teaching people to fight." She nodded her agreement.
"I'm in," I said and they looked at me in surprise, "Teach me how to fight!"