I honestly had no idea how to even start this chapter. In fact, other then snippets of this story popping up in my head, I had no clue how to even continue it. So here is a part that has been playing havoc lately and we shall see how it goes.

Disclaimer: Still do not own Mulan.

Here the Chapter Starts

The Imperial City is in sight. The invasion can happen any minute now. Soon the Emperor will be dead and the Huns will have control over China.

So why Shan-Yu felt the need to keep her near the mountain to watch over the slaves was beyond her! She can handle herself in battle, and most of the Han in the city will look completely past her because she is a woman, thus not a threat in their minds. Not to mention being mixed into the Hun army, she probably wouldn't even be noticed among the more burly and muscular warriors.

Chuluun watched her angrily pace with amusement dancing in his eyes, glancing up to the sky and shaking his head before calling to her. "Mulan, sit with this old man a moment."

"I can't," she said angrily. "I'm just so… Ugh! Why didn't he take me with him? Does he think I'm useless?!"

"Of course not, now come here and sit," Chuluun told her calmly, waving his hand in a signal to approach him.

She released a heavy sigh but went to him and dropped in front of the man, her legs crossed and hands gripping her knees. "Some wise words of advice?" she inquired boredly.

"Somewhat," he replied, pulling an arrow from his quiver then using it to point to her heart. "We of the Falcon Tribe know Shan-Yu is strong. He is a fierce warlord that wouldn't hesitate to bloody his hands should he have to. But you, Mulan, hold his heart in your hands. To many of the Huns, you are his weakness and they don't see you as being any different from another Han." Flipping the arrow, he tapped her head with the feathered end. "A battle is chaos, young warrior. And in the chaos, anyone would take an open advantage. There is already talk among the other tribes of plans to overthrow Shan-Yu when he kills the Emperor. So that they become khan and rule China. What drove Shan-Yu to this point is the knowledge that he would find you. He has done all this in order to find you again."

"I know," she sighed lowly, dropping her head. "I'm just so frustrated. It's like he's treating me like a clueless child again."

Chuluun chuckled deeply. "Because you are," he told her. "You fail to see. I know you watch this army as closely as we do, but you do not see what he sees. They will try to kill you in that chaos, whether because you are a Han or because you are his weakness. Either way, they would see it as an opening. He is protecting you as much as he is protecting himself."

"Least the guy is doing something right," Mushu muttered from the hood of her cloak, unheard by the older archer.

"At least here, he knows you can handle yourself," the man commented, jerking his head to the few other Huns watching the captured slaves to make sure none run off or try to fight. "Better to face a few with a friend that can easily fight beside you than an army where your friends will lose sight of you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Mulan accepted with a nod. "But I worry for him, too. And we've been apart for so long that seeing him for a few days then being left behind just feels like he's abandoning me."

"Yet you know he is doing nothing of the sort," Chuluun firmly reminded her, tucking the arrow away then reaching into his satchel nearby. "Shan-Yu loves you more than you may realize. He is simply being overprotective." He pulled out a small package wrapped in old leather and held it out for her. "You became his light and he cannot handle losing you again. He will break."

She took the package from him and set it on her lap, looking down at it carefully before unwrapping it. A low gasp of surprise slipped out as wide eyes stared down at the doll. Not just any doll, but the one Shan gave her when she was just a child, the one with the small hidden dagger up the back of the dress. Fingers searched for the weapon, lips tugging into a small smile as she drew it out and held it up to see the light gleaming off the blade.

Mushu was confused about the tiny blade. It didn't look like much to defend herself with, but he guessed it had sentimental value if his baby girl's reaction was anything to go by. She looked stunned yet relieved at the sight of it.

"He's kept that since you were taken away," Chuluun confided with a small nod. "When he faltered in training or in battle, he just had to look at it and what was once a wolf fighting became a bear. He didn't leave you here to abandon you or to make you think you are useless. He left you here because he wants you safe. And no matter the distance between you, the both of you will worry for the other. That is how love works. But you just have to hold on a while longer to see each other again."

"I understand," she accepted, placing the dagger back under the doll's dress then placing it on her lap. "Thank you, Chuluun."

He let out a gently laugh and shook his head. "Seems this old man still has some wise words left, huh?"

"You're not that old," she huffed playfully.

"Please, I'm a grandfather now. I am considered old."

"Try and argue with that one, baby girl," Mushu snickered.

"Esenaysh is old," she corrected with a grin. "You're somewhere in the middle."

He let a huff of relief. "Well, that is reassuring!"

Here is a line!

"There's not that many of them, and half are women," Shang informed lowly. "We just need to get free of these bindings and get weapons."

"You make it sound so easy," Yao commented sarcastically. His short yet bulky stature made his restrictions more uncomfortable and difficult to wiggle out of. He's already felt his shoulders pop several times just from trying to maneuver the rope to slip up to his neck in order to free his upper arms. So far, he's been unsuccessful. Huns really know how to bind a person, he'll grant them that.

"What choice do we have?!" the captain hissed at him. "Stay like this and be slaves the rest of our lives? I refuse!"

"But we cannot face everyone," Chien-Po pointed out worriedly. Out of everyone, he had the least amount of rope on him despite being the largest of the men. His wrists were tied together with a rope that wrapped around his large waist and was connected to a second rope that was around his neck. All were connected to each other as well as a couple of the nearby trees. "They'll come back."

"Yeah, and when they see the dead bodies of their friends, guess who they will be hunting down!" Yaoi added on. "And guess which heads will roll?"

"Would you rather die fighting to save China or die enslaved to a Hun?" Shang asked him harshly.

"Easy for you to say, 'captain'," one of the other soldiers huffed.

"Yeah, every time you act up, Shan-Yu will kill one of us," another reminded.

"Which means we should escape quickly, kill all of them, and ride those horses as far as possible before he gets back," he returned, still struggling against his ropes. The problem with Huns tying them up is that they can use a lengthy rope and make it wrap around several areas of the body while connecting at different points to make escape more difficult. They need a blade of some kind to break the ropes if they want to escape.

"What's the point?" Yao asked as he drooped. "We'll just be found again. Some of us killed. The rest enslaved."

"If any of us are left alive," Chien-Po pointed out.

"Cowards, the both of you!" Shang accused.

"No, just trying to stay alive," Ling pointed out as he came to them and dropped by his friends. His hands were still bound and the rope tied like a harness to his chest, keeping him from being unable to fight if he needs to. "You're not really thinking about the people still here too well, captain. Like Shan-Yu's right hand, the archer? His name's Batu and he's an incredible shot. Well that guy with Mulan is Batu's father, taught him everything he knows. He was Shan-Yu's father's right hand, too."

"Getting comfy with your new master, Ling?" Shang sneered.

"If he keeps his hands to himself," Ling muttered. "And no! I'm listening. Paying attention. But if you're going to be snappy about it, 'captain', then I guess I'm wasting my time! I'll go chat with Mulan!"

"After she betrayed us?" Yao asked incredulously.

"She's still looking after us the best she can," Ling told him. "Look, what she told me was that Shan-Yu is going to open the borders once he has control of China. More Huns are going to come, and any unclaimed slaves captured during the war will just go to whoever wants them. She's trying to keep us safe by giving us to people she knows. If we behave and play our cards right, she'll keep us close together and we can make a rebellion from the inside."

"Or we could just get you to bring us a weapon so that we can break free, kill these barbarians and that whoring traitor, and then we can build an army again to kill Shan-Yu and the other Huns in China," the captain corrected firmly. "So get us a weapon!"

"So you guys can get shot dead before taking a step? No," Ling rejected, leaning back against a tree. "Sorry, Li Shang, but your plan is stupid and suicidal."

"At least my plan keeps our honor intact!"

"No, your plan gets everyone killed and Shan-Yu stays in power!" the slim man exclaimed in annoyance. "Look at us! Look at you! Hate to break it to you, captain, but we're not here because we want to be! We were conscripted! All of us were! You're in charge of the leftovers no one wanted, and now you're trying to rally us to escape so that you can pick at the scraps like a scavenger! And all you're going to do is get us kill, just like your stunt on that mountain got Manchu decapitated!"

"That just proves that they will kill us on a whim!" Shang shouted back, oblivious to the two Huns nearby watching with amusement and shaking their heads. "If you still have your honor, you will help free us!"

"My honor is driving me to do what I can to keep my friends alive," Ling told him firmly, rocking himself to his feet then standing up. "Apparently, your honor is driving you to kill them. You're mad, completely insane. Look at them then look at us. There is nothing we can do about them. I haven't given up, but I am sure as hell not giving them a reason to kill me." He sharply turned away, stomping over to where Mulan sat.

"Coward! Traitor! Get back here, soldier!"

Yao and Chien-Po looked to each other then to the other troops. All of them looked thoughtful and saddened, bound by ropes with Ling's words bouncing in their heads. With Shang's continued shouting, they couldn't think of an alternative plan. Then Ling suddenly has one only for their captain to deny it and try to stick to his own plan.

"Do you think she really is looking after us?" Chien-Po asked lowly, looking down to the smaller man beside him.

"You know what?" Yao returned. "I'm hate that she did lie to us before… but I'm kind of hoping that she does care enough. I mean, she's a woman. Right?"

Here is a line!

Ling stared at the bound group over his shoulder before dropping to the ground beside Mulan. Chuluun watched him with a quirked brow, having heard quite a bit of the discussion, even with the distance. He looked to Mulan when she held the small dagger out then cut Ling's ropes and held the blade for him to take. The lean Han rubbed his wrists and looked at the dagger in bafflement.

"What are you doing?" he asked hesitantly.

"Seeing what you do," she replied. "Obviously, you have more sense than Shang does. Everyone here heard enough."

"Oh," he sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Well, might as well put that away, especially before he sees it. He'll make a grab for it as soon as there's an opening."

"Ha!" Chuluun huffed, grasping his bow and testing the tautness of the string. "Shan-Yu may have kept his trusted with him, but most of the warriors here are of the Falcon Tribe. Everyone remembers the raid and how Shan-Yu was after it. Thank the spirits Yesuntei survived her wounds or there would have been no calming him."

"Yesuntei?" Ling repeated curiously, head tilting.

"Shan's mother," Mulan supplied. "I was thinking Chien-Po for her. What do you think, Chuluun?"

"Which one?" the archer asked, drawing the string back and aiming the unarmed bow towards the gathering of bound slaves.

"Big guy, hard to miss," she answered. "He's strong, but not careless. And he's too kind to be in a war. He'll fight if he has to, but he doesn't have a warrior's spirit. If you ask me, he's more of a protector or a guardian."

Chuluun hummed in thought, lowering the bow and smirking to the Han glaring hatefully at him. "If what you say is true, he might be of good use to her," he acknowledged. "But Shan-Yu should have the final say in the matter. She is his mother and he has been quite protective since Nakhu died."

"So what was the raid about?" Ling asked lowly, looking to Mulan.

"Honestly, I don't think anyone really knows the original reason," she replied with a shrug. "Nakhu took me when I was still a child. I was fourteen when the raid happened. The wall was just finished and the Han patrols were getting more forcefully to keep the Hun tribes away. My father, Fa Zhou, was in the party that attacked our tribe. I didn't even recognize him, but he remembered Nakhu. There was fire, blood, yelling and screaming, then I was taken from them."

"We lost many that night," Chuluun sighed sadly. "My wife was slain by your captain's father, her throat slit. Husun, my daughter's husband, lost his father in the blaze that gave Yesuntei her scars. Ulagchi lost his brother and sister, one was only twelve years of age. She sneaked out of hiding so that she could try to fight, too, but a Han found her. Then there are the twins who lost both mother and father in that battle. They died warrior deaths, but those two are still scarred.

"Over there, the man is Xangai. His son died in the raid, his only child. Beside him is Toragana, and she lost her twin brother in the fight, as well as her mother. Our shaman, Esenaysh, lost a grandchild, too. You remember him, Mulan. He was just a little older than Shan-Yu."

"Ajai?" she recalled. "But he hated fighting. He always preferred watching over the goats!"

"Even those who hate battle fight to defend home and family," Chuluun told her sadly, shaking his head. "Many of those who partook in the raid died in the last village. My son and I got our revenge for my wife." His eyes closed and he took in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before slowly letting it go. His eyes opened to look at Ling with a narrow gaze. "You Han create stories of us, say we are barbarians. My people are hard working, and everyone does their share. There are no roles based on gender, there are no freedoms stripped among the tribes, there is just us and our struggles. I do not expect a Han like you to understand. But be warned, boy. If you try to play your little plan and bring harm to my children and my grandchild, I will kill you very slowly."

Ling went wide-eyed and quickly shook his head. "Uh, what if I just hit him for pinching me?"

Mulan snickered behind her hand, her body hunching over as her shoulders shook.

Chuluun shrugged. "That is something you can do," he approved. "Just expect a harder pinch after that."

Here is a line!

Khan quickly raising his head with his ears perked alerted Mulan and Mushu to company arriving. Sharply whistling for her stallion, she grabbed the sword at her waist but did not draw it. Upon seeing the two arrivals, she let out a sigh of relief. Mushu, however, kept his eyes on the incoming riders from his hiding spot in Mulan's newly crafted satchel.

Man was she bored… She even gave it padding for his comfort!

"Well, you two look like shit," she commented.

"We feel like it," Batu groused, sliding off his horse.

"Where's Shan?" she asked, looking past them to see if others were coming.

"After he killed the Emperor and stuck the head on a pike, there were a few that thought they could overthrow him," Husun explained. "Those with some loyalty to Shan-Yu helped him quash that little rebellion and get everyone back in line. He's fine, but Ulagchi is making him stay back in the Palace so he wouldn't irritate his wounds."

"How badly is he hurt?" Chuluun asked next as he approached.

"Oh, nothing to take him down, Ulagchi just wants to be a nanny," Batu assured with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He'll be up and reinforcing his leadership by dawn. But he did want us to go ahead and bring everyone in. The guards are either dead or imprisoned, and most of the people in the city are cowering in their homes from us." Stretching his arms into the air, his back gave an audible pop before he let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Take better care of yourself, boy," his father warned him. "And play nice with your toy."

"He means the pinching," Mulan added at Batu's confusion.

He snorted in amusement. "His ass is openly asking me to pinch and I refuse to resist," the archer defended with a smirk. "Besides, he really does have a nice ass."

"And he's been like this the whole ride back here," Husun informed tiredly as he rubbed his forehead.

"Where is my little pet, anyway?" Batu asked, looking around before grinning. "Aw, visiting his friends. Well, better go snatch him back!"

"Hold, Batu," Chuluun ordered, stopping his son before the young man could walk off. "We may have a problem among the slaves later on. Keep him on a shorter leash."

"What manner of problem?" Batu asked, crossing his arms as he fully turned to his father. Husun dismounted his horse, but did not move from the animal's side as he gave his undivided attention.

Mulan shook her head and rolled her eyes. "The Han captain wants to break free and kill everyone then go out and rebuild an army to kill Shan-Yu and all Huns in China," she explained. "Ling threw the idea of lying in wait then creating a rebellion from the inside. Shang shot it down, but he may eventually go for it. He's worn himself out trying to get free of his ropes, but who knows what is going through his head right now."

"Smart little slave you gave me, Mulan," Batu chuckled lowly. "Don't worry, Father. He won't be part of any little rebellion when I'm through with him."

"Mind leaving my friend in one piece?" Mulan requested.

"He'll have a limp," the archer warned.

"And I have heard enough," Husun announced as he started to lead his horse away. Poor thing has been working hard all day and needs a good brush down before the next ride.

"I'll inform the rest of the camp to start packing up," Chuluun volunteered. "Get your slave before he puts more ideas in their heads, boy, and give your horse a proper rest."

"Yes, sir," Batu accepted with a bow of his head before he grasped his horse's reins and headed over to collect Ling.

Mulan sighed lowly, rubbing Khan's neck when he came to her side. "We may end up with a big mess," she confessed.

"Well, you can't say you didn't expect a little rebellion," Mushu told her as he popped his upper body out of the satchel. "I mean, no matter how you slice it, they're slaves. You know that Pretty Boy won't take that lying down."

"No, I knew it was a possibility, but he is starting to get unstable," she informed. "He wants to stick to a suicidal plan in the name of his honor and is willing to throw himself at impossible odds. It doesn't make sense. A seasoned soldier would wait for a prime opportunity, but he just wants to charge in."

"Sounds like he's a total control freak and can't handle things being out of his control, which they are," the dragon stated, earning an agreeing chirp from Cri-Kee beside him. "And where have you been?" The insect chirped again, pointing to his chest proudly. "Man, her Hunny Bun don't need any luck! He's a huge scary warlord!"

The young woman chuckled and shook her head before going over to her bedding with a few items laid out on it. Laying it out in an orderly manner, she started to roll the bedding up with the items then tied it to keep it from unrolling. "Well, let's go see what shape Shan is in, then," she said, picking up Khan's saddle and returning to her horse.

Here the Chapter Ends

I could not think of where else to go with this chapter. Honestly, I am having new ideas as to how I can continue this story, but I am still sorting them out. And I am glad so many do approve of Batu/Ling. It's gonna be one of those somewhat slow burn pairings, but it will happen!

Anyway, let me know what you guys think! See you next month! Hopefully…