Elsewhere on the island, Merida sat down, looking out to the sea. As the flowing waves reflected in her eyes, a tear flowed down her cheek.
Just then, she was joined by Snow White. She noticed her coming and quickly wiped the tear off her face and began loudly singing the Mordu song.
However, Snow White quickly brushed that off and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh hey, Snowy, I didn't see you there!" said Merida.
"Right..." Snow White said sarcastically.
Merida caught onto Snow White's sarcasm and grew annoyed at the fact that she was not gonna pull anything over her in this case. "What do you want?" she asked.
"I want you to not be so hard on Mulan," said Snow White.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Merida snapped. "It's obvious she's being selfish and not thinking about the rest of us!"
"She is just doing what she feels is right. You know as well as I do that is how she is," said Snow White.
In her mind, Merida knew Snow White was right about Mulan, but that was really what frustrated Merida about her, especially in a situation like this. Which made her stand up and sharply turn to Snow White. "But what about what's right for us?! It's like she has forgotten why we came here!" she said.
"No, she has not. But these people need her, they need us," said Snow White.
Merida turned her back to Snow White. "Well you can do what you want, but I'm not going. If you need me, I'll be on the ship," she said before she walked off towards the ship.
Snow White wanted to stop her, but just decided to let her go. It was hard and a bit frustrating trying to be the voice of reason, especially in a situation where both sides had valid points. Snow White found herself up the river without a paddle.
The warriors of Womanisia were gathered with Mulan and the other princesses and Feemer and the good fairies standing around a table upon which laid a map of the island. Before they could go to war, they needed a plan of attack. One that would require smart thinking, strategic strategy, cunning wit, and the warriors to be prepared to the highest order. So to lay out this plan, Mulan used marshmallows to represent the Womanisia warriors, and bars of chocolate to represent the male forces.
The female warriors eyed Mulan confusingly.
"Sorry, we worked with what we had on notice," Mulan said in embarrassment. She then lined the chocolate bars and marshmallows side by side in a row on opposite sides on the map and began to lay out the plan. "OK, so this is Rosa and this is Farrelyn, you two will follow behind me in the frontal assault, while that is happening, Daawn, you will lead a second charge towards the enemy ships once they have all exited and destroy them, eliminating any hope of retreat, of course realizing they out-muscle us, Renay, you will take another group and separate half of the soldiers while me and the others deal with the other half. Any questions?"
The warriors had none, they were ready to follow their queen's plan and go to battle.
Just then, Mulan turned to Walter who had a somewhat incredulous look on his face as he eyed the map. "Walter?" she said to him.
"Um...yes, Your Majesty?" Walter said.
"Is there something wrong?" Mulan asked.
"Uh...no, Your Majesty," Walter said, not wanting to stir things up.
But Mulan would not resin. "Come on, what is it," she asked again.
"Well, I was just thinking..." Walter began before he was cut off by a Womanisia warrior.
"Men should not think!" the warrior said.
Mulan halted her to allow Walter to continue.
"Well it's just that...um...what if they have a surprise attack? For example, what if they send down a few ships to make up think that's how many they have and then they use a secret surprise attack to catch us off guard?" he suggested.
"Us?! There is no 'us?!' WE are fighting this war, not you!" the warrior said.
Mulan again halted her.
"I was just...thinking that maybe...we should have...I don't know...a couple of warriors to...scout out the ocean, to lookout for any surprise attacks and maybe...have a couple more...hide out to catch them off guard?" Walter said.
Mulan nodded in approval. "That's a really good idea, Walter," she said.
"Um...well...thank you, Your Majesty," said Walter.
"Let's do it!" Mulan exclaimed.
However, this did not bode well with the warriors. They did not like the idea of following an idea suggested by a man. They believed that any kind of idea from a man was perfectly idiotic in every sense of the word.
"Outrageous! I will not follow any idea of a brainless man!" the female warrior said.
"Neither will I!" another warrior said.
This was somewhat understandable. Their minds had been trained to think this ways for years and years, but in this case, it was not the right time. This was a moment of war, a fight for survival.
Belle understood this as she stepped forward. "Well you're going to have to! It's a good plan and I say we should go with it!" she said.
"Absolutely not!" a female warrior protested. "A man is not fit to think!"
"A man an be just as intelligent as any woman!" said Belle.
However, Belle's argument was not supported much by the fact that one of the male slaves walked over and ate the marshmallow that was supposed to be Daawn.
"Mmm, Daawn is tasty...and fluffy..." the male slave said.
The female warriors looked at Belle, obviously realizing the fact that the male slave's action had further supported their point. Belle just tried to put on a small smile to erase the awkwardness.
Back on their island, as opposed to Womanisia, the male warriors were steadily prepared. Their blacksmith had constructed all their weapons in record time and even used the same metal to create new armor that would make them almost impenetrable in battle.
The leader confidently stood before his soldiers and addressed them as they waved around their newly made weapons.
"Soldiers! In four days, we will claim Womanisia for our own! We have slain their queen and soon, we will slain the rest as well!" he proclaimed.
The male soldiers all rejoiced, save for one who tried to chuckle quietly. The leader noticed this.
"What's so funny?!" the leader asked.
"Oh nothing, nothing..." the male soldier said, holding his mouth.
With that, the leader continued. "Well as I was saying, soon, we will slain..." then he heard the soldier chuckle again. "What?! What is it?!"
"It's just, the word, 'slain,' it's so funny..." the soldier said, much to the confusion of the leader. "I mean imagine if it was in 'Jingle Bells.' 'Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open slain!'
"Or how bout, 'Oh, you slain me!" another soldier said.
Soon, the rest of the soldier were using the word, 'slain' in puns and sayings and such, much to the leader's annoyance until he gave a loud and hard stomp, putting a stop to it.
"Silence!" the leader shouted.
"Alright, alright, don't...'slain' yourself!" a soldier said with laughter.
"I bet Atilla the Hun never had to deal with this," the leader sighed before getting his soldiers back in focus. "Alright, men, those females think us men stupid! Nothing more than mindless monkeys! Well we'll show them how brainless we are when we take over their island! Then no longer will we men be insulted and thought of as idiots!"
"And if they think they have a chance against us, they're in-slain!" a soldier said.
The rest of the soldiers chuckled while the leader just face palmed.
The time of battle was fast approaching. There were three days until the coming invasion and Mulan figured today would be a good time to get in some combat practice. In the palace, she and the warriors engaged in a few sparring matches with Walter looking on. Mulan was impressed as the female warriors showed an excellent combination of ferocity and technique. However, during the sparring matches, the warriors' weapons started to bend or break. Some of the weapons the warriors used had been used for centuries and of the same material, wood and steel.
"Good practicing, but we need some new weapons," Mulan said.
"I agree. We were almost defeated last time and I fear these will not help us, but what can we use besides steel and wood?" a female warrior wondered.
Mulan herself was indecisive. She didn't have anything on the ship that they could use and she didn't know her way around Womanisia.
However, Walter had a suggestion. "Um...if I may..." he started to say.
"You may not!" a female warrior said.
"Hold on, let's hear him out," said Mulan. "What do you have in mind, Walter?"
The female warriors huffed as they decided to listen to what Walter had to say.
"Well...um...we could use the Black Stone..." he said.
"What's the Black Stone?" Mulan asked.
"It's a nearly indestructible stone found near the cliffs of Womanisia," a female warrior said.
"And you think this will help us?" Mulan asked.
"Sure. If we...say...meld it into a couple of shields and sword, I think we could have something...I think..." Walter stuttered.
Mulan turned to the warriors. "What do you girls think?" she asked them.
Far be it for any female of Womanisia to listen to a suggestion from a man, be in this case, they couldn't afford to be picky. They all nodded in agreement and decided to go along with Walter's plan.
Mulan and the warriors prepared to head out. The warrior got ahead of Mulan and as she followed, she was met by Snow White.
"Hi, Mulan, where are you going?" Snow White asked.
"Walter thinks he has something that'll help us in the war," said Mulan.
"That is...great..." Snow White said wearily.
Mulan noticed that Snow White had her head drooped down in depression. "Snow? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing..." Snow White said, trying to heighten her voice so not to let Mulan on to anything.
However, Mulan was a lot smarter than that. "What is it? Tell me," she said.
Finally, Snow White confessed. "It's Merida."
"Is she still upset?" Mulan asked.
"Yes," Snow White answered.
"She hates me, doesn't she?" Mulan said.
"No, she just misses her parents. We all do," said Snow White.
"So do I, but I can't just abandon these people, Serrah gave me a responsibility and for right now, I need to fulfill it," Mulan said.
"I understand," said Snow White. "Rapunzel is trying to calm her down,."
"How's it going?" Mulan asked.
"Actually quite well..."
As Rapunzel was trying to talk with Merida, she was angrily flailing around her sword, nearly cutting Rapunzel in half.
"How could she be so selfish?! I mean why does she think we came here in the first place, to relax on the beach, no! We have a mission to complete and she's off playing queen!" Merida shouted.
"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" said Rapunzel.
"Overreacting?! Me?!" Merida answered, once again nearly taking Rapunzel's head off.
"Just a little bit..." Rapunzel said in a squeaky voice, no doubt from terror.
Over in Corona, the citizens found themselves engulfed in the fury of the attacking Shadow Goblins who had invaded their homes, eaten their food, one even literally took candy from a baby; he took a half eaten lollipop from the infant.
Gothel, who led the charge, smiled as she approached a jewelry merchant's cart where the merchant was being held by Goblins and she observed the selection of jewelry. She tried everything from the necklaces, to the rings, tiaras, even toe rings.
As she tried on everything, she turned to the Shadow Goblins for their opinion. "What do you think? Do I look fabulous or what?" she asked.
The Shadow Goblins just babbled and drooled.
"Oh or course I do," Gothel said.
After trying on the last of the jewelry, Gothel ordered the goblins to carry it all back to the castle. As they did, Gothel's initial skepticism of Golett returned to her. She couldn't explain it, but there was just something about him that she didn't trust. As she was about to make her way to the castle, she suddenly heard a scream coming from the opposite direction. She turned and saw a small child being seduced by a Shadow Goblin.
"Help! Help me, please!" the child screamed.
At first, she decided to just walk away, seeing as how it wasn't her problem, but then suddenly...
Help! Help me please!
It was as if something in her memory was triggered as she ordered the Goblin to stand down and join the others.
"That child is not worth our time," she said.
Gothel had a small moment to look at the child's eyes. At first, she didn't think nothing of it, but the more she looked, the more it seemed like there was something about the child that reminded her of something that she couldn't quite figure out. Realizing this, she quickly turned and walked away, but not before the child thanked her for saving his life.
"Don't get used to it," Gothel said before walking off.
Gothel was now more confused. Why did she stop the Goblin from attacking that child? It couldn't of been from love, she didn't even know him. Whatever it was, it was something she could not explain, at least not at the moment.
Mulan and the warriors' travels took them a deep canyon on the edge of the island. The group slowly edged to the bottom and worked their way across the canyon. They searched and searched until a warrior happened upon a set of rocks black as coal with multi-colored sparkles.
"Your Majesty! I found it!" the warrior said.
Mulan and the other warriors went over to see and the other warriors realized that what their fellow warrior had found was indeed the Black Stone.
"Nice work!" said Mulan who got a feel of the rock hard exterior of the stone.
Now that they had what they needed, Mulan and the warriors grabbed as much Black Stone as they could carry and took it back to the palace.
The man slaves melded the Black Stone into swords and shields.
Over the next few days, Mulan and the warriors practiced with their new weapons that showed to be tough and sturdy. Not even the hardest of blows could break them.
Mulan and them had their troubles with the weapons because the stones had made them heavier. Luckily, Walter was there to help them out. To the female warriors surprise, he showed great skill with the weapons. Could there have been more to this male then they had originally thought?
With the day of the invasion nearing tomorrow, the warriors of Womanisia were prepared. Mulan was still nervous, but she kept her confidence. At sunrise tomorrow, one of the biggest battles Womanisia had ever fought would begin. They could only hope that their new weapons would help.