water9 THE WAY OF WATER
By Pooky

Chapter Nine:

The ride through the forest was silent save from the gentle pounding of the horses' feet, even Tai-shan was quiet at Shang's side, alternating from watching the path ahead of them and turning to throw Shang a concerned glance every now and then. Shang knew from the look on his friend's face that Shan wanted to say something, but he didn't, the subject of Mulan seemed to make him uncomfortable altogether. Maybe that was just as well, it was enough that Shan was beside him. But still, it was eerie that even Yao and Ling were quiet, and that Shang found himself wanting to talk for something to do, something to keep his mind off his worries of Mulan.

Yao seemed utterly surprised when Shang turned around and motioned for him to ride up next to him. Grimacing, the shorter man steered his reigns and did so as if expecting to become embroiled in another argument in no time. After the way Shang had treated him he wouldn't be surprised at all if Yao had some revenge in mind, hotheaded enough to exact it then and there. Sighing, Shang tried to mask any traces of jealously or hostility he might have felt the for the other man.

"Yao," he regretted that he sounded more worried than commanding. Of course he was worried, Mulan was in danger. He knew Yao hated him for what he had done to Mulan in the mountains, the way he had left her, he knew that any respect that man had for him as a leader was grudging. But Yao did not understand of course, what he had faced in his life and how difficult it was for him to trust. Yao did not understand the searing hurt and rage he had felt to learn that Ping had lied. Tai-shan was the only one he had let close to him, and now he was getting married, and Shang was left impossibly drawn to this quirky warrior girl. "Did Mulan say anything to you before she left?"

"No," the burly man grunted, fixing his good eye on him in a glare. "She hasn't talked to any of us very much. Isn't that what you wanted?

"I'm sorry."

Yao blinked. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm sorry." This time there was more force in it.

Rubbing his hands, Yao was delighting in this. Shang knew what he was thinking, that it was high time he learned how to treat people, especially Mulan. "Say it again, pretty boy, so everyone can hear you."

Shang sighed, but he felt less annoyed with the man than usual. His apology was sincere, even if it sounded forced and sarcastic. "My most humble apologies, Yao. I made a complete ass of myself and I'm sorry."

"Alright," Yao nodded in satisfaction. "But I'm not the one you should apologize to."

The general drew a deep breath. "I know." But Yao seemed to refuse to pity him.

"So what are you doing here?" Yao pressed his advantage, obviously agitated that he had been kept unaware this long. There was only the five of them and their troops were left at the Wall. Shang had refused to wage an attack on the Huns, deciding that if they moved she would be killed. If they pretended to stand still, the Huns would move towards them, and that was what Shang wanted. So he had gathered only the five of them to ride forth, in complete secrecy.

He looked at Yao as if he had asked why water did not talk. "Rescuing Mulan. The deeper you penetrate into your enemy's territory without being seen, the easier your victory. Their numbers will advantage them nothing. The fewer men to move, the deeper you can penetrate." Yao answered him with nothing but a skeptical look, shrugging off his years of military training. Dismissing him in his mind, Shang turned back to Tai-shan. "Go back now, Shan," he told his friend quietly. "In case something happens. I need to leave the men with someone I trust."

Shang was growing nervous, noticing they were very near the edge of the forest, but tried to conceal it lest Shan insist on staying. He gave Shang a searching look that said he was considering it, but with a quiet salute and a quick embrace with one arm, Tai-shan steered his gray mount around and rode off.

The rest of them moved forward.

~ * ~

Mulan awoke to find her head on Tie-lin's knee. The other woman had her arm wrapped loosely around her shoulders as if she had at first been holding her still. The initial sensation which found her was the pain in her hand, burning and sharp, the hurt from the wounds on her back was different, sore and raw. Her entire body was crawling with weakness.

"It's night now," Tie-lin said gently as Mulan shifted, her face was still serenely beautiful, unmarked by harm. Mulan's cheek felt bruised and swollen. "They should be moving towards the Wall soon. I got a good view of the camp as we walked back and forth."

Fighting to sit up, Mulan groaned. "Great." How was that going to advantage her in this state?

"You did well," she continued, ignoring the sarcasm. "They have hastened their attack plans because they think you are hiding something, and that Shang knows everything, even the diminished state of their troops. "

"Why do they think I know so much? I told them the truth."

Tie-lin laughed. "They think you are his lover, and that he tells you these things when you lie with him at night." Rolling her eyes, Mulan burst into wild laughter. She could just imagine it, a man's idea of romance, instead of confessing his heart like a woman wanted, he would instead confess his military plans for her to marvel at. Oh, it was too rich, she could not stop laughing.

"I'm sorry, Tie-lin," she caught hold of herself finally, not without a few stifled giggles. That laugh was badly needed now. "We need to warn Shang of the attack. We need a good horse that can carry us both. We've played their game enough, haven't we?"

Shang's sister nodded firmly. "That's why I told you we're moving out tonight. They'll give us a horse, all we have to do is sit quiet and wait. We're two hours west of the Wall now."

Two hours? Mulan had expected more than that. They certainly had done a fine job of pretending to be far when they were so near. "How do you know they won't kill me? And do they keep us together?"

"They need any advantage they can," Tie-lin said casually. "With only three thousand men. They'll use you to shake his resolve, and let him see you alive so he will do something foolish to save you, or surrender even." That was ridiculous, Shang would not go that far, she would never even hope for it. "As for me, well, they let me witness how they treat you so I will know the price of disobedience. They toss me in your tent so you will see an example of cooperation to follow. Men are foolish, they think they understand women and that we are simple."

It made sense, Mulan decided as she lay back down on the rug.

Within a short while, Shan-Yu came to usher the pair out of their tent. He picked Mulan up again, throwing her over his shoulder, while Tie-lin minced her way. After a few steps her offered his arm with a false gentility. "Allow me," he gave an exaggerated duck of his head. Taking the proffered arm, Tie-lin managed to look grateful. With those little feet, perhaps she was.

When he set her down to free a small brown pony secured to a post, Mulan took a quick study of the camp. The horses were all mounted by their riders, gathered together on an open field facing west, swarthy banners waving above them. The tents had been folded up and everything packed away, they truly were heading for the wall, just as Tie-lin had said. Placed on the horse, her hands were tied before her and somehow fastened to the saddle while Tie-lin was draped side-saddle behind her, even her hands were bound around Mulan's waist to keep from falling. With bound hands, Mulan would have to steer the mount mostly with her knees. Not a problem.

"I told you they are very foolish," Tie-lin whispered when Shan-yu had moved to mount his own horse secured not far away. The last pair of horses to be saddled up and mounted. "It never crosses their mind that the two of us together may be dangerous, all they think of is making us fear them."

Mulan shrugged, nervous and sore. Using the pressure of her knees, she followed Shan-yu as he trotted off, making for the head of his forces beside General Li. No doubt a sound escort would be set to watch over them. She looked to the moon, sought a star to guide her and gathered her courage, wondering if she was putting too much trust in Tie-lin. But Tie-lin had not been wrong yet, not even about her thoughts.

Tightening the reins in her bound hands, Mulan waited until there was a few yards between them and Shan-yu. He was no longer looking their way, but surveying the order of his troops. Swallowing her fears, she decided it was now or never.

Pressing hard with her knees, Mulan forced the horse to steer left, in the opposite direction the men were facing, digging her heels into the stirrup to urge it into a full run. She needn't fear his entire army, it would take too much for them to turn their formation around quickly enough, they were angled west to take a more stealthy route through the forest, while she would ride for the Wall head on.

"No!" Shan-Yu roared, whipping his head around. Mulan kept on, fighting to outrun whatever retaliation came her way.

Our of the corner of her eye, she saw the glimmer of metal, a sword bared from the scabbard across his back. Glancing over her shoulder, she tried to gauge the distance as he twisted his arm back to throw. Her pulse hammered in her ears, she galloped faster. The sword left his hand, flashing white against the sky, Mulan's wrists strained against the ropes from keeping the reins taught, trying to steer her mount of out the sword's path.

What happened next was a blur of confusion.

She had forgotten about Tie-lin, and was relying on only her own skills to make the escape. In a heartbeat Tie-lin had her hands loose, breaking free of the rope with very little straining, flinging out one arm, she called to Mulan. "Go, go!" and Mulan dug her heels in with as much force as she could.

Mulan thought her neck would break when she looked over her shoulder again, the horse was bounding so swiftly. In that deft motion Tie-lin had not only managed to deflect the blade, but it was now standing out from Shan-yu's chest as well. He lay sprawled on the ground before his troops, motionless. Chills crept their way into Mulan's skin, not daring the fathom what kind of ghost would linger in that demon's wake, and what wrath it would seek. There was no time, she tried to seize her wits again that were shaken by the sight. His wrath would live in her nightmares. Taking advantage of the shock which settled over the men, Mulan kept on as Tie-lin reached around and untied her ropes as well. Strange and remarkable powers this woman had acquired.

Biting her lip, Mulan suppressed her questions, and rode towards the cover of the forest as fast as she could.

~ * ~

Gripping the reins, Shang pulled his horse to a halt. Night made the forest difficult to navigate, the shadowy paths and pools of scant moonlight looked quite different and distorted from the bright greenery of the daytime. Still, he did his best to lead, trying to hide his own apprehension even from himself. Cowardice led to capture, and carelessness to defeat.

Spreading out was not the best idea, whether it was only four of them, or a thousand, but it was the only way to make a rapid survey of the terrain for Hun tracks. Mulan, he cursed her affectionately, why must you always risk your life in the grandest manner possible?

A horse's cry tore through the air, he had his sword out in an instant, searching for the source of the sound. Hooves pounded in the distance, steady and unrelenting as branches cracked in their wake. The horse was in a frenzy. Shang readied himself, dismounting, dropping beside the trunk of a tree and securing his horse behind him, where they could not be seen in the foliage. The hooves were coming closer, only one horse, which was a good sign. Settling on his haunches, Shang crouched in waiting, like a tiger governed by instinct.

A low dark shape rushed through the trees, a horse's head and then the upright figures of two riders on its back. The small mount betrayed them, a Hun pony. Without a fearful thought, Shang sprung into the air, leaping over the back of the horse to throw the two riders to the ground.

It was not until he had them both tucked under each arm that he realized they were female, one in silk, the other in tatters. He let the one in silk go, she was harmless and couldn't run far in a dress, but used his weight to hold the other down, his sword point at her throat. He had heard some of the Hun women were skilled fighters, master archers even and sometimes trained in martial arts. But she did not struggle beneath him, she seemed too spent for it.

A voice snatched his attention suddenly. "Shang, let her up, she's hurt."

Tie-lin? What was she doing here? A thousand panicked thoughts swarmed through his head.

Too stunned for questions, the general instantly obeyed, knowing who 'she' was before Tie-lin had to elaborate. On his knees he helped her to sit up with an arm around her back. A beam of moonlight touched her face now, shining with sweat and drawn tiredly from the effort, bruised and swollen. His chest tightened in anger, who would dare? Through the tears of her shirt he could feel the bare flesh of her back, drawing his hand away at the risk of hurting her.

"Mulan? Are you alright?" It was such a poor question, so base and inadequate in conveying the terror and worry he had suffered through the long hours of her absence. They had seemed to stretch like years. And here he was, so curt, as if she were just a common soldier. There was nothing common about her, nothing at all.

Her breathing was labored as she sagged against him, her head finding support against his wide shoulder. He did not dare pull away, but wrapped an arm around her should and clutched her protectively. "Yeah, I think so," she answered at last. "Nothing that could kill me." The words held a forceful stubbornness, but under that her voice was weary and drained. His fists clenched in involuntary anger, this would not go unavenged.

"She's been beaten and hasn't had any food for a day," Tie-lin supplied, calm as ever. "I suggest a doctor and a good meal."

"So you escaped?" Both women nodded, he had a strange feeling the pair had become friends in their captivity. However that had happened, or however Tie-lin had gotten in the midst of this, would have to wait. The important thing was that both were alive and safe. "You know we were on our way for you. I hope you never thought otherwise."

He wished he hadn't said that, a contrite shadow passed over Mulan's face. Did she not know, he would die on the day he learned that she was dead? Of course not, he had done such a good job of hiding it.

It was Tie-lin who smiled, sharing a cryptic look with her newfound friend. "It is not enough to trust the tethering of horses, or that a chariot wheel will secure you to the ground." He didn't have time to ponder the meaning of that one, but he thought he understood. You can't always depend on what seems dependable.

Turning back to Mulan, Shang sighed. "We'll leave this horse here, it'll confuse them a little if they come this way. Tie-lin can ride. Can you walk? Or do you want me to carry you?" It was a simple and sensible question he thought, yet it sent Mulan into a grin and though he could not tell in the dark, he was sure she was blushing. Without waiting for an answer, he set Tie-lin in his saddle before scooping up Mulan, holding the reins and looking to collect the others.