I DO NOT OWN MULAN OR SWORD OF A STRANGER

Hey everyone who is still following this story. I'd like to just drop a couple notes here for everyone. 1. I know there are some spelling/grammar mistakes in my chapters. I try to proofread them, but the goal is to release chapters as fast as I can so, somethings fall through the cracks. 2. If you could leave comments about what you like and don't like about the writing style of story line that would be great. I'm using this story as a learning experience so I welcome constructive criticism!

Thanks for following me and reading all my updates!


"Where were you?" Kotaro asked as Nanashi made it back to their campsite.

"Pretty boy invited him to his tent for a drink," Mushu said suggestively.

"Perverted lizard," Kotaro said, but looked back to Nanashi after noticing his silence. Confused and intrigued, he waited patiently for Nanashi to take a spot around their fire.

"Well," Mulan started. "Was it about this morning?"

"What happened this morning?" Kotaro asked.

"Our scary, silent boy kicked pretty boy's butt, that's what happened," Mushu supplied.

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, Kotaro. It was just a spar. Captain Shang asked for it," Mulan comforted, misjudging Kotaro's distress.

"AND I MISSED IT!" Kotaro clarified. "My life is so boring," he wallowed.

"It's not boring enough," Nanashi finally said.

"If he wasn't mad, what did he want to talk to you about?" Mulan asked.

Searching for the right words in the fire before him, Nanashi could think of no delicate way to say it. "He wants me to help train you," he said eying Mulan, "and the rest of the troops," he finished bringing his gaze back to the fire.

"That's not so bad," Mulan said. So why does he still look upset? She thought.

"It's not safe here," he said vaguely.

"Duh, it's the army. It's not safe for anyone. That's why her ancestors sent me," Mushu said pridefully. Nanashi shot him glare, but it only took a moment for Mushu to thaw the freeze of it before speaking up again. "If anything you should be glad that you can train her and the other men."

"Sure, but now we have more to worry about than just trying to survive the Huns."

"What do you mean?" Mulan asked.

"Chi-Fu," he said.

Kotaro spit to the ground by his side. "Bitch," he mumbled.

"Kotaro, don't say that," Mulan said disapprovingly.

"What? He his," he defended.

"He's much worse," She corrected.

"You're right about that," Mushu agreed. "He reminds of my cousin that-"

"He'd sooner see us all die than let us save China." Everyone looked to Nanashi. "He listened in on Captain Shang and me. I was honest with the Captain. He knows why I'm here and that you two," he looked to Kotaro and Mulan, "are my priority. He understands, or at least he says he does. I'm sure there will come a time when our differences will cause problems, but for now it means I can keep a closer eye on you," he looked to Mulan, "and make sure that you and everyone else is prepared to support each other."

"What did Chi-Fu say?" Mulan asked.

"He'll be waiting for the moment I disobey the Captain or the Emperor. Wouldn't be the first time someone threatened to kill me."

"What did you do?" Mulan panicked.

"I walked away."

Kotaro couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled all the way from the bottom of his gut. "You? Walk away? In what world? You threatened him, didn't you?" Kotaro teased.

Mulan wouldn't have believed the kid if it hadn't been for Nanashi's half-hearted glare and convenient silence. With a long sigh, she drew everyone's attention. "Well, there's no changing it now. We should have seen this coming from the beginning."

"Both of you need to be more careful around camp for now on. Chi-fu may be the Emperor's council, but it's hard to tell how many allies he actually has around camp, especially with the General gone. Shang despises the man, so try to stay on the Captain's good side."

"Hm," both Mulan and Kotaro agreed.

"That means, you-" Nanashi pointed to Mushu, "need to keep your claws out of everyone's business. You get any ideas, you run them by me first."

Mushu gawked, "Who's the guardian here?!" But with one, agonizingly prolonged look from the ex-samurai, Mushu relented. "Yeah, whatever it takes to get my girl home."

Nanashi knew that if the dragon wanted to do something he would, but hopefully this worked as a reminder for Mushu to think before he started something he, or the rest of them, couldn't finish.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way," Kotaro said. "I want to hear about your spar with Captain Shang!"


The next morning. Nanashi and Mulan were the first of the recruits to make it to the training grounds. "You think someone will do it today," Mulan asked, looking up towards the arrow Shang had lodged the day before.

"You could give it a try," Nanashi suggested, but Mulan dismissed him almost immediately.

"Look who's here," the two heard from behind them. Both turned to see three men who had been harrassing Mulan for the past two days.

Well, the two smaller ones, Nanashi thought, looking towards Ling and Yao.

"Hey Nanashi!," Ling greeted. "Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot so we'd like to formally introduce ourselves." Nanashi eyed them suspiciously while Mulan seemed eager to befriend them. Her optimism could be tiring. "I'm Ling," Ling said, reaching his hand out towards Mulan and Nanashi. Mulan took it, Nanashi just grunted. After his introduction Ling looked to the two nervously, waiting for the rest of his friends to speak up.

"And I'm Chien-Po," the giant said amicably.

"Hello, Chien-Po," Nanashi let Mulan answer for the both of them.

"And I'm Yao," the short, angry man of the trio finished. Mulan seemed less enthused to greet him back. "Ahh," Yao vocalized. "Don't be so worried," he directed to Mulan.

"Yeah," Ling jumped in. "We're sorry about the past couple days." Mulan still didn't relax. "Hey, we're really sorry, Ping," Ling tried again. "You know how guys can get," he said rhetorically.

"Yeah… I know how, uh, we can get?" She answered anyway.

"Plus, we wanted to ask your friend how he beat the Captain. That was amazing! And you barely broke a sweat!" Ling added.

"Yeah," Yao started. "I've seen better," he said, seemingly finding the dirt under his fingernails more entertaining than his conversation, " but it was still pretty good," he mumbled the second end of his sentence.

"I trained," was Nanashi's curt reply.

"Oh, come on. There's got to be more to it than that," Ling pushed.

Yeah, killing people, Nanashi internalized.

"We just want to be able to fight like you," Ling sing-songed as his eyes glazed over by the fantasy.

"Then train hard," was all Nanashi said before he pulled back from the conversation. Both Ling and Yao, even Chien-Po seemed a bit put out. Yao looked as if he was about to argue, but more men had arrived and they could see the Captain making his way towards them.

In a matter of moments, everyone fell into line, silently, just as Shang had ordered yesterday. "Men!" Shang shouted his arrival. "Before we start, Nanashi, please step forward." Nanashi did as instructed and turned to face everyone. "Nanashi will also aid in your training from here on out." Both Shang and Nanashi could see varying looks of shock and frustration, but one glance from the two of them dissipated any opposition. "As far as your training, he will be my second. Your orders will still come from me, but I expect each and every one of you to show your respect to Nanashi. He and myself, as well as being a soldier and a Captain, are your teachers and your best bet for survival. Take this seriously, and we might make it out of this war alive," Shang finished.

Reminded of the gravity of their situation, the soldiers seemed to accept the new development. Mulan looked eager to begin their training with Nanashi, but Shang had different plans. Pulling Nanashi to the side, he explained: "After yesterday, you have to admit that Ping is a novice. He's not the only one, but I think it would be better for you to push our more advanced troops while I work on conditioning and the basics with everyone else. I can explain my strategy with them and once they've got a handle on that we can add them back into the main group."

Nanashi wanted to protest, but the idea was actually a good one. "Alright."

"Good. We're starting with hand-to-hand combat."


Shang ended up training with Mulan, Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po along with a handful of other young men. The soldiers in Nanashi's group were all around his age or older and it was apparent after watching them spar for several minutes that they each had their fair share of experiences. They were good, and compared to soldiers Shang was working with, they were incredible, but having the two groups work next to each other was only serving to feed their ego. Minutes into their training and Nanashi could already tell his men were slacking. They would pull their punches, send poorly aimed kicks, and exert too much power too quickly, all trying to intimidate Shang's men.

At one point, Shang was attempting to show Ping how to block a roundhouse kick. Mulan hadn't known what to expect and quickly found herself on the ground, and a few of Nanashi's men stopped to laugh and mock her failure. "Stop," Nanashi demanded, causing everyone to look his way. "Captain, may I say something?" He asked.

"Go ahead," Shang permitted. "If you all haven't noticed by now, you've been separated based on your skill level," some of Nanashi's men chuckled while Mulan and the others groaned in embarrassment. "But-" Nanashi cut them off. "You're all fighting the same war. The training you receive now will determine your's and your comrades' fates. Take it seriously. It's not a competition or a reason for you to show off," Nanashi said, eying his men down. "You will have to work together in battle. So, take this seriously and help your comrades get better."

"Well said," Shang praised. "Care to share anything else you've noticed?"

"Stop going all out with your first few attacks," Nanashi called out all of his men. "Even if you think you can beat your opponent in a single blow, there will still be another ready to take his place. Save your energy for when you need it. Every choice you make: where you land your punches or kicks, how hard you throw them, when it's best to pull back or to power forward, are differences between living and dying."

"And what would you know about that?" one of Nanashi's men sneered.

Before Shang could punish the man, a black blur raced past the men before standing between Nanashi and the soldier. "What are you doing here?" Nanashi asked Kotaro.

"I finished my morning chores at the stables. Everyone else told me to keep busy, and Khan looked antsy, we decided to go for a ride. Who's this guy?" Kotaro asked, completely unbothered by all the attention he had garnered.

"I said, what would he know about fighting this war? He's not even Chinese, he's never even seen us fight in battle. I don't know what you're used to, but I'll bet an entire year's earning that you couldn't hold a candle to the best China had to offer," the man finished directing his fury towards Nanashi.

"He once crushed a man's windpipe with just his sheathed sword," Kotaro said without a beat and the entire platoon of men, including Shang stilled in shock, all searching Nanashi for any signs that his brother was lying. It never came. Kotaro seemed pleased with the silence, assuming it was a sign for him to continue. "A trained assassin was trying to kill me with poisoned daggers. Nanashi had underestimated his opponent, something I'm sure he's already told you not to do. To be fair, he wasn't really expecting the guy to be as good-"

"Kotaro," Nanashi tried to stop him.

"I'm almost done!" Kotaro yelled over him. "Anyways, Tobimaru took a dagger meant for Nanashi. That gave Nanashi enough time to get his act together. Then, all it took was a well timed flip, some rope, and a jab directly to the center of the guy's throat," Kotaro finished, acting as if he had cleared up the whole situation. But, everyone looked more confused than anything. "What I'm saying," he added, annoyed, "is that strategy is just as important as power and speed, or you'll end up traveling four hours to the nearest town for medicine, while sucking poison from your dog's leg with no guarantee that any of it will actually save him."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" The soldier shouted at Kotaro.

"It means Nanashi knows what he's talking about and has the experience to prove it." Nanashi's eyes widened in shock when he realized it was Shang that had spoken up. "What's your name, soldier?"

The man puffed his chest and clenched his fists before answering. "Zhou," he answered.

"Well, Zhou. Let see if your comrades feel the same way. Who else agrees with Zhou?" Shang asked, but everyone else remained silent and unmoving. "That settles that. Zhou!"

"Yes sir," Zhou replied, standing at attention.

"See those bluffs," Shang said, pointing to the high ground, shrouded in forestry just beyond the camp.

"Yes sir."

"There is a path along the ridge. All uphill. We will run it with these," Shang said, gesturing to bamboo rods weighted down by sandbags on either end of them. "You will carry two of those and I expect you to beat each and everyone of us. If you fail to do so, your punishment does not end here."

"Yes sir," Zhou regretfully agreed.


Shang gave Zhou a ten minute head start before signaling for everyone else to start. Catching Nanashi before he followed his men in the run, he asked, "If we catch sight of Zhou before he reaches the top of the ridge you think you could beat him to the top? He was under your instruction when he disrespected you. You should be the one to choose his punishment."

Nanashi smirked. "You should have given him 20 minutes. At least then it would have looked like you tried to give him a chance."

For the first half of the run Nanashi stayed by Mulan, helping her pace herself with the extra weight on her shoulders. All too soon, however, Shang caught sight of Zhou and called Nanashi in for action. "Will you be alright," he asked Mulan.

"Go. He deserves it," Mulan said as confidently as possible. She must have been convincing, because Nanashi shot past her and the rest of the men, easily passing Zhou and disappearing towards the top of the ridge. How did he do that? Mulan thought. Inspired and a little jealous, she held her pace as best she could. That is, until the inclined steepened. With every step it felt like the weight on her shoulders doubled and that something was trying to pull her back down the ridge, pulling at her legs, trying to get her to stumble. Through sheer stubbornness, she turned her vision and focused all of her energy on keeping her legs moving. Still, she couldn't help it when her pace slowed and the men in front of her began to disappear from sight. Just when she thought she had lost them all a very broad and shirtless Shang stopped her in her tracks.

Without saying a word he grabbed her weights, effortlessly adding them to his own. Obviously displeased, he took off back towards the rest of the men. He didn't say anything; he didn't have to, that look said it all. She would have to learn to carry her own weight, and then some, she supplied if she was even going to make it to the front lines.


At the top of the ridge, Nanashi looked on as Zhou finally rounded the last corner. He silently celebrated as the bastard saw Nanashi relaxed in a seated position, almost like he was meditating. The celebration was short-lived when the rest of the men came into view, Shang backing them with an extra set of weights, Mulan nowhere in sight.

Floating back up to his feet, Nanashi walked passed a grumbling Zhou, straight to Shang. "Captain, where's Ping?" He asked.

"He lost his pace and couldn't carry his weight any longer," Shang said displeased. Nanashi heaved in frustration at both Shang and Mulan as he looked back down the ridge, Mulan's form finally stumbling towards them.

"I'll do-better-next-time," Mulan said in between deep breaths as she reached Nanashi and Shang. "Captain, I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize to me," Shang stopped her. "Apologize to the rest of your comrades that depend on you. What are they supposed to do if you can't even take care of yourself?" Mulan stared back, speechless. Shang was right. If she wasn't strong enough to carry herself up that ridge how could she keep a Hun from killing, say, Ling?

She deflated at the realization, but fell in line with the rest of the men. Nanashi would talk with her tonight. He would train her by herself after hours if he had to.

"Have you given any thought to the second half of Zhou's punishment?" Shang asked.

"I'll have something ready for him by the time we make it back to camp," Nanashi answered. Zhou looked like he was about to boil over, but kept his mouth shut, if only to avoid more punishments.

However, as the men walked back down the ridge, Nanashi could only think of what he could do with Mulan. If she didn't improve fast enough Shang held the power to send her home. That would fix their problems wouldn't it? The Fa family would have their daughter back, but if anyone were to discover what she had done she would be executed with nothing to show for it. No matter how much Nanashi hated the idea, fighting this war and bringing an end to the Huns would at least give Mulan a chance to prove herself to the Emperor and the rest of China that she was needed to save China. As far fetched as it seemed, it was her only chance at returning to a semblance of her old life. Everything always has to be so complicated, Nanashi mused to himself.


Back at camp, Kotaro had helped the chef prepare a simple lunch of rice, broth, and some vegetables. As the men lined up for their rations, starved from their long run, Shang reminded Nanashi of Zhou's punishment. "Come up with anything good?" he asked in front of everyone. Nanashi really hadn't thought of anything until he saw lunch. Even he was feeling a bit starved.

Looking at the filled bowl in Zhou's hands and then his eyes, he fought to keep his expression blank and tone even. "No lunch. See how you feel training on an empty stomach. Even the strongest of men can't suppress their hunger."

"This is bullshit!" Zhou yelled.

"Think of it as a lesson more than a punishment. There might be times when we will have little or no rations on the front. You'll have to be prepared for what that feels like," Nanashi patronized.

"AGH, FUCK YOU!" Zhou yelled, throwing the full bowl all over Nanashi's uniform.

Nanashi watched Zhou's outburst unimpressed.

"Hey!' Kotaro yelled from his spot next to the large pot of steaming rice. Why Kotaro thought throwing his spoon at Zhou would do anything would always be a mystery, but in a split second the brute of a man spun on the boy, slapping him across the face, the force causing him to collide with the side of the streaming pot. The moment Kotaro's cry stung Nanashi's ears he snapped.

Nanashi grabbed Zhou by his collar, pulling him around only to punch across his face hard enough to send him spinning to the ground. Zhou, stubborn and enraged, spit out a mouthful of blood before trying to rise and send his own attack.

It was useless. Nanashi was on him in a matter of seconds, and before anyone could even think about pulling the two apart a loud crack followed by a painful wail from Zhou silenced the crowd around them, spare Kotaro who was trying to contain his own whimpers of pain.

The abrupt end shocked Shang from his role as spectator back to Captain. He quickly pushed through the men in front of him to assess what had just happened. Nanashi was already at Kotaro's side, completely engrossed in the damage Zhou had done with his slap, and a burn that was already forming on the boy's arm. Zhou was a heap on the ground hugging his left wrist to his chest where his hand flopped uselessly; blood still trickling from his mouth and nose. "Someone pick him up and get him to the infirmary," Shang said, gesturing to Zhou. A couple men stumbled forward and picked him by his underarms before he found his footing and shook them off.

"I can make it myself," he growled.

"Do you want me to break your leg too?" Nanashi threatened, standing in between him and Kotaro.

"Enough, Nanashi," Shang said. "Get someone to take your brother to the infirmary."

"I can," Mulan offered, already making her way towards the two.

"Leave it to Ping to do a woman's job," Zhou spit.

"You need as much time to train as possible," Nanashi said. "I'll take my brother," he finished, directing his focus on Shang.

"Alright," Shang caved. "Keep an eye on him too," he said, gesturing to Zhou.

"He's the son of a bitch that-"

"I'm your Captain! You'll follow my orders without question! Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," he bristled.

"Nanashi, step out of line like that again and there will be consequences. I would have thought you to know better," Shang reprimanded as if Nanashi was a child that needed scolding.

"Yes sir," Nanashi replied. Now wasn't the time to argue. Picking up Kotaro, he called over to Zhou. "Hurry up, or I'll tell them to set without any pain relievers."

Shang huffed at Nanashi's words, but couldn't argue with him. "Let's go, men! You'll all finish your training today on an empty stomach. Nanashi was right. It's better you learn now what it's like to fight on an empty stomach. Next is archery. Move out!" The men groaned in protest, but they dragged their feet away from the food and towards the archery range.

Mulan held back, wanting to see Kotaro. "Is he alright?" She asked, sending a glare towards Zhou, still cradling his wrist.

"The burn isn't too big and it doesn't look like he has a concussion, but the medic will know more," Nanashi said.

"Ping! Fall in line!" Shang commanded from a distance.

"Go. He'll be fine," Nanashi assured. Without looking at Zhou, he started towards the infirmary.

"You will clean each arrow when we're done," Nanashi heard Shang tell Mulan as she reached the rest of the men. And, Nanashi had really thought today couldn't have gone as worse as their first. Yet, it was only midday and it felt like he was stuck in a year long nightmare. Could this day get any longer?