Chapter Six:

Shang drummed his fingers on his lap as he watched as Cri-Kee wrote out a message on a piece of parchment. Mushu was pacing next to the busy cricket, claws clasped together behind his back. Mulan had already retired to bed, softly snoring in the bedroll behind him. Cri-Kee stopped suddenly, allowing Mushu to snag the fake letter up. Scanning it, Mushu mumbled to himself, before nodding in confirmation, holding it up to Shang to read it as well. "What do you think? This should fool the old man for sure."

Shang bite back a retort about how they really shouldn't call Chi-Fu old... especially when they have no idea when he'll walk in on them. "It looks good...except that it sounds more like he is politely asking me to come join him for tea than we're in the middle of the war."

Mushu pulled the parchment back to him again, scanning it once more. "You're right... Cri-Kee!"

The cricket saluted Mushu, before leaping back in action, writing out another fake letter from the general to Chi-Fu. Mushu didn't pace around this time, hovering over Cri-Kee as he wrote across the page. "Perfect!" Mushu cried out suddenly as he snagged the paper out from under Cri-Kee with no warning. Shang read through it once, just to make sure that it did sound rather urgent, a nod of agreement escaping him the same time a small smile crossed his features. "Now that...will do super nicely."


Shang hated to sit around and wait... but as Mushu pointed out, he couldn't be the one to deliver the fake letter. Drumming his fingers on his knee, he stood up and started to walk out the door when Chi-Fu suddenly ran up to him, wearing a robe with a towel wrapped around his head. "Captain! Captain! Urgent news from the front lines!"

Shang mentally crossed his fingers that he was a good enough actor to fool the Emperor's Councilman. "What?! Give me that!" Shang dramatically snagged the letter from his hands. Shang half-heartedly scanned the letter...and then froze as he registered what it was he was reading. "Oh...it says here that they've been ambushed and lost most of their men and they need our help to drive the Huns back..." Shang was very much aware of the way his hand shook, and his heart thudded loudly in his chest. "We need to hurry or else the village that my father is safeguarding will no longer exist." Taking in a deep breath, Shang clenched his fist, wrinkling the letter from his father. "Tell the men to prepare to leave immediately. We move out in half an hour."

"Half an hour?! But it's the middle of the night!" Chi-Fu protested, taking an involuntary step back.

Shang turned to face his tent, pulling the tent flap to the side. "My father, THE GENERAL, says not to take our time. He needs us urgently on the field." Shang stepped into the tent, allowing the flap to close behind him. Moving silently so as to not wake Mulan up, he began to pack their belongings.

A minute later, Mushu and Cri-Kee came charging into the tent. "Stop packing! We haven't been able to get the fake letter to Chi-Fu!"

Shang shook his head as he held up the real letter. "No need for it. I just received a real letter from my father requesting us for backup. Apparently most of his troops have been killed and they need my troops to fill in the empty spots so as not to be completely outnumbered by the enemy." Turning back to his packing, he lowered his voice to a soft whisper. "I just hope we are not too late."


Mulan stirred awake as the supply cart rocked gently underneath her. Wait... supply cart? Pushing herself into a sitting position, she glanced around to see that she was sitting in the front of the supply cart, which was moving steadily forward even as the sun rose from the east. Mulan narrowed her eyes, confused. She was pretty sure that they had discussed it and had decided that they will leave in the morning... and yet by the looks of things, they had left in the middle of the night!

Straightening, Mulan swiftly climbed down the side of the cart, her toes skimming along the grass for a few minutes before she hopped down. Moving swiftly, she headed to the front of the line where Shang was riding his horse, along with Chi-Fu. Mulan frowned, puzzled on how she was to get Shang away from Chi-Fu without anyone being the wiser. As if to answer her question, Ling materialized next to her.

"About time you woke up! Captain Shang insisted that we don't wake you when you're sleeping. Come on... Yao and Chien-Po are this way." Ling slung an arm around her shoulders casually, steering her away from Shang.

"I actually wanted to ask Shang why we moved out..." Mulan hesitated, brushing his arm off.

Ling shook his head as he stepped back into formation next to his friends. "Didn't you hear? The general needs our help! Most of his troops have been decimated."

Yao made a fist, punching the flat palm of his hand. "Just wait till I get my hands on some Huns! I'll teach them not to mess with us in no time!"

Chien-Po nodded eagerly, bending down so that he could communicate easier with the others. "Just think about what all the girls back home would think of us now if they could see... ah, no offense Mulan." He glanced briefly over at her.

Mulan lifted one shoulder up in a half-shrug, moving steadily next to him. "It's fine. War heroes are what everyone deems as perfect husband material...that isn't me of course."

This brought about a bout of laughter from the friends as they marched along, Mulan carefully picking her way through the weeds and sharp rocks. They were finally on they're way to war!

A/N: Done! Um, yeah... I was going to keep going until...but that'll make it way long so next chapter! Ok...Angel wants to chat with me so I'm cutting it off now. Hope you all enjoyed this little chapter!

Review!

SkyTalon