Author's Note: Alright, here's a nice long chapter for you guys! Please enjoy and be sure to leave a review! Also, I have another note at the very end of this chapter which contains a little fun fact about this fanfic! Check that out if you're interested! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this long(I mean, 32 chapters! You guys are awesome!)Thank you for all of your continued support!
Chapter Thirty Three: The Bravest Of Us All
As our somber company makes its way through the Tung Shao pass, I have the strangest feeling that we are being watched. 'You're being paranoid!' I scold myself as I look around and see no one other than us soldiers. Then, out of nowhere, a single arrow comes flying through the air and plants itself in Captain Li Shang's shoulder. His armor stops the arrow from piercing his skin, but the force of it sends him tumbling off of his horse and onto the ground. I turn in the direction that the arrow came from only to see hundreds more coming our way. 'The Huns are hiding on the mountain.' I realize.
"Get out of range!" Captain Li yells while ripping the arrow from his armor. The men are happy to oblige, running in the direction of some rocks which jut out of the ground, allowing for cover from the rain of arrows. Khan is jumpy and I tug hard on his reins as I try to lead him and the cart he is pulling to safety. Just as he begins to comply, I see something bright shoot in our direction. Flaming arrows! One of the Huns' signature moves! One of the arrows hits the cart, immediately sending the thing alight.
'This cart holds our canons! If they are destroyed, we're done for!' I feel panic rise in me as Kahn bucks wildly, trying to get away from the flames. I struggle to calm him but to no avail.
Captain Li sees me struggling and issues a new command. "Save the cannons!" The men run to help, quickly forming a line to pass the canons out of the cart. Chein-Po simply grabs an armful and makes a run for it.
Khan continues to panic, and I unsheath my sword, using it to cut him free of the harness holding him to the cart. I jump on his back and try to put distance between me in the cart. Soldiers with armloads of cannons do the same. Suddenly, the inevitable happens as the cannons inside the cart explode, the force sending me flying off of Khan. I land hard and feel the cold snow sting my face and my helmet fly off of my head. I stand up quickly, though, grab my helmet, and run to the rocks where the others are. As I run I see dead and wounded men lying in the snow, arrows protruding from their bodies. I wish to help them, but I simply can't.
When I reach the rocks, I throw my helmet to the ground, grab a cannon, and aim it at the mountain on which the Huns are shooting us from. "FIRE!" the captain orders. I along with a few other men strike our flints to the fuse and cover our ears as the cannons fire, whistling through the air before hitting the mountainside. We can barely see the Huns, and we fire the cannons blindly in the direction we think they are in until finally, we have but one cannon left, and all is silent. Too silent. Yao aims the cannon, but the captain holds up a hand. "Hold the last cannon!"
We squint up at the mountain and try to make sense of what is happening behind the ominous black cloud of smoke. Everyone gasps in horror as the smoke dissipates only to reveal a giant of a man on horseback: Shan-Yu. More Huns, all mounted on horses, walk to stand behind their leader. They surround us; our backs are to the mountain behind us, leaving us nowhere to run. Captain Li Shang quickly steals his features and turns to us. "Prepare to fight!" he announces, his voice free of fear. "If we die, we die with honor!"
One after another, the men draw their swords, looking uncertainly ahead to the Huns. Shan-Yu releases a fierce battle cry before spurring his horse and charging towards us. His men follow, and the sound of thousands of war cries and beating hooves fill the air.
"Yao, aim the cannon at Shan-Yu," Captain Li orders firmly, seemingly determined to kill the Hun leader should it be the last thing he does. Yao obeys, working hard to angle the cannon just right.
'Killing Shan-Yu won't do anything! The Huns can still conquer China, leader or none!' I look first to the Huns and then down at my father's sword. 'If I look at my reflection in the sword, will I finally see that I have found who I am? Will my reflection finally show who I am inside? Or will I die not as Mulan at all, but as a fake?' When I look at the shiny metal of the sword, I see not my reflection, but the reflection of the mountain peak. I look up to that peak as the beginnings of a plan form in my head. Sure its crazy and basically suicide, but what does it matter? We're going to die anyway, I might as well try. I narrow my eyes in determination as I sheath my sword. Shoving Yao to the ground, I grab our final cannon, our last hope, and run as fast as I can towards the advancing Hun army.
"Ping! Come back! Ping! Stop!"
I ignore the captain's cries and continue to run until finally, I reach the summit of a hill of snow. With all my strength, I shove the cannon into the snow and take careful aim. I grab my flint and strike it hard, my half-frozen fingers fumbling desperately to light the fuse of the cannon. As Shan-Yu draws closer and closer I begin to panic but concentrate hard on the flint. Finally, just as he is but three feet in front of me, the fuse lights, and I grab the base of the cannon, steadying it as it fires. The sound makes Shan-Yu's horse rear up in fright, and I hold my breath as the cannon climbs higher and higher before arcing and hitting the summit of the mountain.
For a brief second, I fear that it didn't work. In my head, I can just about hear Mushu yelling, "You missed! How could you miss?! He was three feet in front of you!" I was never aiming for Shan-Yu though. Then, I see the snow at the very peak of the mountain give way and tumble downwards, collecting more and more snow along the way. I can't help but smirk as the avalanche begins to devour the attacking Huns.
My pleasure is gone much too soon, however, when I see the look of anger on Shan-Yu's face. The Hun leader raises his sword and lets out a cry of rage as he brings it down on me, ready to administer the death blow. I try to dodge, but much too late. A horrible pain shoots through me as the sharp, cold metal rips through my flesh, and I struggle not to scream. I grab my right side with my left hand and begin to crawl away before forcing myself to stand and run. I feel hot blood seep through my fingers, and my side painfully rejects all forms of movement, but these thoughts are pushed to the back of my mind as I run, determined to reach the safety of the rocks under which the rest of the men are hiding.
In my retreat, I notice none other than Captain Li Shang standing but a few yards away from where I had fired the cannon, his mouth agape. It is clear he followed me. I grab his arm with my right hand and drag him along for a moment before he seems to come to his senses and strides next to me.
"We won't make it, Ping!" he yells over the thundering sound of the avalanche. "No man can outrun an avalanche!"
"We have to try!" I scream back, eyes fixed on the rocks. 'Just keep running. Ignore the pain and keep running.' I repeat in my head.
The avalanche grows closer, and I hear a scream that I believe must come from the Hun leader himself. The avalanche must have caught up to Shan-Yu. The sound of the avalanche is louder than one-hundred cannons, louder than the loudest thunder. I hear it growing nearer and nearer, but refuse to give up. I see the rocks the others are hiding under and will myself to reach them. I refuse to believe it hopeless.
Suddenly, I see Khan, good loyal Khan, barreling towards us. I stop running for a split second and leap onto his back before reaching a hand out to Captain Li. I reach for him desperately and grasp his wrist as he grabs mine. I hold as tight as I can, but that split second is all it takes for the avalanche to catch up to us. For a moment I watch as he is torn from my grasp. Then, the snow overwhelms me, and I go under.
Being caught in the avalanche is like nothing I have ever experienced, and something I hope never to experience again. If I live, that is. Being buried in snow, it isn't all white like one would expect. In fact, it is pitch black. Snow forces its way into my nose, rendering breathing impossible. I feel as if I am being crushed as the air is forced out of my lungs. I cling tightly to Khan, trying to figure out how to escape. The snow is whooshing around me, and I have been flipped around so much I haven't a clue which way is up. So, I do the only thing I can think of. Grabbing Khan's reins, I pull hard and dig my heels into his hide, forcing him in the direction I hope the surface to be.
I inhale a large breath of air as we break through the snow. Another wave of snow crashes into us, sending us under once again. Khan fights and struggles with all his might until finally, we manage to stay on the surface.
Abruptly, something red catches my eye. "Shang!" I cry, ignoring formalities for a moment. He is caught in the flow of the snow, seemingly unconscious. Quickly, I turn Khan around to save him. When we finally reach him, I grab the captain and lay him in front of me on Khan's back, using my elbows to keep him in place. Khan tries desperately to fight against the flow of the avalanche but to no avail. I then realize where the snow is carrying us: the edge of a cliff. 'Ancestors, a little help would be great right about now!' I plead in my head. Our salvation comes in the form of an arrow attached to a long length of rope.
Without a second to lose, I tie the rope tightly around Kahn's torso and grab my bow, which is thankfully still attached to his breast collar he wore to pull the cart. Just as I notch the arrow, I feel pure terror rise in me as Khan backs up onto nothing but air. We are tumbling down, and I shoot my bow blindly, hoping beyond hope that someone will catch it. We fall, and I can do nothing but pray as I lean my body over Shang's, pinning him to the horse's back. I close my eyes and hold the rope in a death grip in my one hand. I am both startled and relieved when the rope abruptly grows taut, and our fall is jerked to a stop.
"Hey, you all still alive down there?!" Never in my life have I been so happy to hear Yao's gruff voice.
"I think so!" I shout back.
"Great! We're pullin' you up!"
And so they do. The second we reach the top, Mushu helps me off of Khan.
"You the man!" he states excitedly to me. "Well, sort of," he adds after a moment. I roll my eyes but am too out of breath to reply. Mushu understands and lowers me carefully to the ground. Other men seem to have helped the now conscious captain, and he lays in the snow near me, panting.
"Step back guys! Give them some air!" Ling advises. The men obey and walk a few paces back.
My breath comes in short gasps as my adrenaline levels seem to try and even themselves out a little.
"Ping, you are the craziest man I've ever met." Captain Li Shang states. His harsh tone makes me wince, and I put my hands on my knees, still trying to catch my breath. And then, quite unexpectedly, his face softens as he states his next words. "And for that, I owe you my life." He smiles a small grateful smile as he places a hand on my shoulder, and I look him in the eye for the first time. "From now on, you have my trust."
"Let's hear it for Ping, the bravest of us all!" Ling shouts, pumping his fist in the air, causing both myself and Shang to smile.
"You're king of the mountain!" Yao adds. The men are all smiles and cheers, and for a few glorious moments, I am swept up in the amazing gayness of it all. Shang offers me a hand, which I gratefully accept, and pulls me to my feet. I smile at him and stand up straight
…only to have a sharp wave a white-hot pain shoot through my right side.
I grunt and clutch my side before crumpling back to the ground. All at once, the merriment stops.
"Ping! What's wrong?"
My only answer to my captain's question is to pull my hand away from my side. I watch as the faces of all those around me turn from gay to horror as my hand comes away crimson with blood. I gasp as I notice just how much blood there is. It covers my hand and the right side of my armor, and a small puddle of it is dripping into the snow.
"He's wounded! Get help!" Captain Li orders hastily.
'Get help… that means medic… no, not the medic… I've come too far…' These half-completed thoughts whirl around my head as a feeling of exhaustion washes over me. 'No… can't fall asleep… need to stay awake… can't let them discover me…' For a moment I think of my little pocket knife, the one Heng gave me. I can't use that now, though, everyone is looking. I notice Mushu kneeling beside me, his face creased in worry. I try and fight it as my eyes begin to close from blood loss, pain, and exhaustion.
"Ping, hold on. Hold on," I hear Shang say. Ling, Yao, Chien-Po, and Qing are all standing behind him, growing blurrier and blurrier. Mushu grips my shoulder.
I blink once, twice. Then, everything goes black.
Author's Note: Ooo look, I'm down here today! So, I just wanted to explain a tiny little detail that probably doesn't matter very much to many of you, but I think it's worth mentioning. You might have noticed that in this fanfic, especially this chapter, Mulan is often switching between calling Li Shang by his name, Shang, and calling him Captain Li or Captain Li Shang. No, I did not just include that to confuse you guys. You see, Mulan respects Shang, and she therefore addresses and thinks about him using his title of captain. There are times, however, such as when Shang tells "Ping" that he owes him his life, that Mulan thinks of Shang as more of a brother/friend, and therefore thinks of him as simply Shang. Thanks to anyone who actually reads these author notes! I hope you liked this little explanation.
