Chapter Two:
Mulan glanced around the mostly empty camp. "First one's here, I'm guessing."
General Li nodded in confirmation as he scanned the camp. "Yes. That is a good thing seeing as I am the General of the Imperial Army. I need to command order here with the early arrivals. Make sure that they understand that they answer to me."
Shang jumped off his horse, next to a large area that had been roped off, a wooden sign labeling it as reserved for the General. "Am I setting up camp next to you again? Though this does seem a bit big for the tent that you grabbed..."
"That would be because you will be staying here with the new recruits, while I take the fully trained troops to battle. We'll discuss it in more detail once everyone else has arrived and I am ready to leave." General Li calmly informed his son as he slid off of his horse.
Mulan climbed down from Khan, noticing that several men were staring openly at her. Turning her head away from them, she concentrated on untying the harness connecting Khan to the supply wagon. "Let me help you with that..." Shang placed his much larger hands over the top of her own.
Mulan stifled a squeak of surprise, taking a small step back. Which would have ended up better if Shang hadn't been standing right there. Shang grunted as first Mulan's heel grinded into his toes, then her elbows shoved themselves into his chest. Stumbling, he moved his arms across his chest as he doubled over. "A simple no would have sufficed."
"Sorry..." Mulan mumbled as she turned bright red, having not realized that Shang had been standing so close to her in the first place. Her hands shook as she pulled the large tent that the General insisted that they needed with Shang's new title of Captain.
General Li was fighting back a laugh as he watched the two of them interact, realizing that the real reason that Mulan did all of that was because Shang had startled her. Shaking his head, he went in search of the camp cook to let him know that he would be getting the help he was always asking for this time around...
...
Mulan pulled out her saddlebag...whcih fell open to reveal...Cri-Kee amongst the items inside of it? "Cri-Kee? What are you doing here?" She carefully picked up the unlucky cricket, setting him down gently on the edge of her bedroll. Cri-Kee chirped as he looked to her, rubbing his legs together to show that he was happy.
Mulan shook her head as she continued to unpack her things. Only to come across a small red lizard in another saddle bag. "Snake!"
"Excuse me?! I am a dragon... I don't do none of that tongue thing." As he, for it was most definitely male, spoke, he stuck his tongue out to show her how a snake hissed.
Mulan poked him in the back, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. "Why is there a small dragon in my belongings?"
He sighed, dramatically, as he twisted around to look at her. "I'm running away. Simple as that. And I have a name. Mushu."
"Ok... Why do I get the feeling that I am going to be seeing a lot of you from now on?" Mulan mused aloud, vaguely wondering if she needed to tell the men about the two stowaways.
~Few Days Later~
Mulan knelt down next to the table that was set up in the middle of the tent, making sure that the map was perfectly smooth for when General Li and Shang were discussing battle strategies. She looked up, hands darting down to rest in her lap, as the tent door swished open. Shang nodded to her almost wearily, even as General Li walked over and lowered himself into one of the sitting cushions surrounding the table. "This is men's talk, you can go see if the cook needs any help with tonight's dinner."
Mulan rolled her eyes slightly, battle strategy wasn't too different from a strategy game that she played with her father, standing up she curtsied to the men before leaving the tent. Ignoring how the startled men, mostly the new recruits since the others had better discipline, stared at her, she went straight to the mess tent. Slipping silently next to the cook, Ping by name, she whispered softly to him. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Ah yes!" He nodded to a large pot of rice that was over an open fire. "Can you finish that pot for me while I get this pot served?"
"On it Ping." Mulan moved over, picking up a long wooden spoon to stir the pot with. Today was the day that the last of the recruits arrive and General Li was to leave with the troops...minus the new ones.
"Cooking again? Girl this is just plain boring!" Mushu groaned from where he was hidden in the shadows.
Mulan shot him a quick glare, she still hadn't told anyone about the stowaways. Turning her attention back to the pot, she concentrated on the menial task given to her. Just then, she heard a loud commotion that appeared to be getting closer by the second... Whirling around, Mulan barely stepped out of the way in time as Ping fell backwards, the pot that he was dishing out of spilling out all over the ground. Mulan looked over the situation, deducing the fact that it looked like a fight had broken out. "Is this exciting enough for you, Mushu?" Mulan snagged the red dragon up, not for the first time glad that he was small enough to make him easy to hide.
After shoving him out of sight, and harm's way, she hurried over to help Ping back up to his feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted General Li exit the tent, Shang and Chi-Fu from the Imperial Court, right on his heels. Chi-Fu smirked at Shang as he prepared to write something down on a piece of parchment. The general stared at the fighting for five seconds, before climbing onto his horse and nodding to Shang. Flicking his reins, he shot off, the rest of his troops right behind him. Mulan rubbed her finger down the wooden handle in her hand, half tempted to smack one of the young men that were throwing punches everywhere.
Shang marched over to the men, anger dancing in his eyes. "Attention!" All the new recruits, recognizing the command in his voice, leapt apart, standing stiffly before him. "Who started this?!" All hands shot forward to point at three men in the center. One was small and muscular in build,with a swollen shut eye, while another was tall and skinny, the last one appeared to tower over everyone and was bulky, though Mulan suspected that it wasn't muscle. Shang marched over until he stood right in front of them. "You're names...Now."
"Chien-Po."
"Ling."
"Yao."
Shang nodded stiffly to them, before holding out his hand. "Your summons?" They hurriedly handed over the scrolls that they had tucked in their belts. After scanning the scroll, and murmuring softly to Chi-Fu about something, he turned to face the rest of the recruits. "Here in the army, we rely on discipline and hardwork. As such... you all will start by picking up every last grain of rice. Am I understood?" Shang spoke firmly, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear him without actually yelling.
Mutters of yes sir filled the air as everyone began to grumble over the impossible task that Shang just placed in front of them. Whirling around, Shang disappeared back into the tent. Mulan sighed, before turning and helping Ping back up to his feet. "If it helps you at all Ping, the pot you had me stirring didn't spill. We still have a pot of rice."
Ping sighed as he peered over at the pot. "Very well. Dish up some food for yourself and Captain Li. I'll oversee the clean up. No need for you to get involved."
Mulan nodded, already working on picking her way back over to the still upright pot. "Whoa...what's a girl doing clear out here?!" It was the tall skinny one, Ling if memory served correctly as he noticed her.
Mulan leveled a pretty good glare in his direction as she picked two bowls up. "Who do you think cooks the food that you eat? Ping can't do it all." Turning, she grasped the ladle and filled the bowls.
"Who spit in her porridge? And I agree with you that it is odd for a lady to be here... unaccompanied." It was someone else, though she couldn't see who.
Ping moved to block her from view, his voice rather firm. "Mrs. Li is the wife of Captain Li...your commanding officer. I'll be careful with what you say and do if I were you."
There was some more muttering at that, but Mulan ignored them in favor of heading back to the tent with the hot meals in her hand. Pushing the tent open, she heard Chi-Fu speaking almost smugly. "This is just perfect. There is no way you can get these boys ready for war in time."
"Just watch... I'll make soldiers out of them...no better yet. I'll make men out of them all." Shang sounded angry as he just about snarled at Chi-Fu.
Mulan cleared her throat as she moved further into the tent, making sure that she kept eye contact with Chi-Fu. "I brought dinner for the captain."
Shang sighed as he moved over to take his bowl from her. "It smells heavenly. Send my regards to Ping next you see him."
Mulan nodded by way of confirmation, settling down to eat her own food.
Chi-Fu, realizing that he was being dismissed, huffed loudly as he strutted out of the tent as if he were an Imperial Prince. Mulan picked up her chopsticks, wondering vaguely if there was something she could do to make him more...agreeable.
A/N: Done! And we just met the rest of the Gang (Ling, Yao, Chien-Po, Mulan, and Shang, I always refer to them as the Gang) Mushu also made an appearance, hasn't told Mulan why he is running away or from what it is that he is running from. Cri-Kee also is there, though it is more of a case that Cri-Kee and Mulan have a deep friendship and he is worried about her being a married woman now. ANd yes, Mulan doesn't get punished with the others since she isn't a recruit. And she really doesn't like Chi-Fu. I mean, who does? I'm pretty sure that Disney merely created him so that we have a character that we can mentally strangle when Shan Yu is off-screen. He needs to be taken down a notch or two.
Good thing I know the perfect Gang to drive him up the wall and prove him wrong over and over again. *insert evil laugh*
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SkyTalon
