Hi everyone! Sorry about the wait, but I was on vacation. I'm back now, so here's another chapter.

Disclaimer: not mine.

Last time:

Instead of going to help Sung with the cooking, she went to her tent instead and threw herself onto her bed. She couldn't believe Shang had yelled at her in front of all the soldiers! Her intention was not to show off; she didn't know how he had thought that! Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not cry because of something Shang said; it would be weak.

Three weeks had passed. Mulan had barely spoken to Shang and it was the same for him. Needless to say, Shang hadn't gotten any nicer. Mulan's leg had finally healed, though, and her stitches were to be removed. She was so relieved that she would no longer need the cane!

She went to Deng's tent in the morning. The stitches came out easily but she had not expected a very noticeable scar! It was awful looking! There was only a small scar on her shoulder and one that was a little more noticeable on her side from her previous wound.

"It seems that your infection damaged the tissue." Deng informed her. "I had hoped that this wouldn't happen because we had caught it so early, but I was wrong." All Mulan could do was stare at the hideous scar on her lower leg. She wanted to cry.

'Men won't want women with scars!' Mulan thought. 'Shang would understand, though.' She startled herself with that thought. 'Why am I caring about what Shang would think? He doesn't care about me!' Her thoughts were cut off by Deng.

"You are free to go, Mulan." He said to her. "I'm terribly sorry about the scar."

"There's nothing you can do?" Mulan finally spoke.

"No," Deng answered sadly. Then, hesitantly, he continued, "However, there is a woman in the small village who may be able to help you but-"

"Really?" Mulan cut him off. She knew where the village was, but not what it was like. Before the medic had a chance to tell her not to go, she had jumped off the table and ran out of the tent. He tried to give chase, but she had already taken Khan and was riding down the path towards the village.

"Mulan! Come back!" Deng yelled after her but she didn't hear him. Shang walked by at that moment, staring down the path after Mulan. He had given the exhausted recruits a morning break and was heading to his tent.

"Shang!" Deng cried, rushing over to block his path. "You have to go after Mulan! She's going to the village!" Shang's eyes gazed at Deng, unconcerned.

"Why? She can take care of herself." Shang replied coldly.

"No, Shang, she can't," Deng retorted. Shang glanced again down the path. "She just had her stitches removed. She also hasn't trained in anything since she herself was in the army! She's been too afraid of you!" Shang still didn't move to go after her. However, Deng's words stung. "Shang, if you don't go after her, she's going to need much more than a couple of stitches!" When Shang looked at Deng, Deng could see concern wanting to get out.

"I can't leave the recruits."

"Yes, you can! I'll lead them in meditation! Just go!" Deng urged him, pushing Shang towards the horses. Shang finally gave in. He pushed his pride away and dashed to his horse. Not even bothering with tack, he jumped on and rode bareback down the same path Mulan had taken.

Mulan pulled Khan out of his cantor to a walk as she neared the village. She had entered the forest and the trees blocked out much of the sunlight, making the village appear quite dark even though it was morning. The darkness made the village seem very unwelcoming. There didn't seem to be many people here. Many of the buildings were very run down. The few people Mulan did see were not very friendly looking.

As she made her way through the town, she could not find a building that looked like one a sorceress would have a shop in. She did find what seemed like a bar and decided to ask for directions. Khan didn't seem to want to stop but Mulan made him turn into the gate. She dismounted and tied him to a post next to a rather underweight roan horse. Mulan cautiously entered the bar. There were many men sitting at low tables. They looked at her with surprise as she walked past.

"Excuse me," She said to the owner. "Do you know where I can find a sorceress?" The man looked at her, shocked that a woman would be so bold. There was a slightly evil look about him. She ignored a feeling that she should turn and run.

"Yes," His voice was gravely. "Follow me." He led her through a door to the back of the bar. The room smelled heavily of incense and the air seemed to be filled with a light haze, presumably from burning a lot of the incense.

"Sei!" The man barked. A tiny old woman was seated at a table, looking very grouchy. "You have visitor." He turned and walked from the room. The woman stood from her spot and walked around the table to see Mulan better.

"So, what do you want?" She asked, her voice raspy and angry.

"Umm..." Mulan's feeling to run was even stronger, but still she ignored it; she really wanted to make her scar go away. "I have a scar-"

"Ah, yes. You want it to disappear." Sei said, cutting Mulan off in the same angry tone. "Well, I have many things that could help you." She moved away to a shelf. Mulan watched her and was thinking about how her attitude was like that of the matchmaker. She pulled down several bottles and put them on her table then went back for more.

"Reach that one for me." She ordered Mulan. Mulan reached up to get the bottle. She almost wasn't able to reach it. As she stood on her tiptoes and grasped the bottle, she had gripped the shelf in front of her for balance. This was a very bad idea. Just as she lifted her target off its shelf, the one she was holding on to collapsed, sending all the bottles crashing to the floor.

"Get out of my shop!" She woman screeched at Mulan.

"But I wanted-"

"I said, get out!!" Mulan didn't need to be told a third time, she just ran back through the bar and out the door. As she went through the door, one of the med stood from his table and followed her. Mulan stopped where Khan was tied and reached for the rope. As she did, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Not so fast!" A male voice said, very close to her ear. "Just where do you think you're going so quickly?" Mulan didn't answer, she just tried to pull her wrist from his grasp. He suddenly got angry. With his free hand, he slapped her across the face.

"Answer when a man talks to you!" She still did not answer. Before he knew what his him, she raised her knee and hit his squarely between the legs. He immediately released her wrist and fell to the ground.

Three more men came out of the bar just in time to see their friend hit the ground. They looked from him to Mulan and they knew exactly what had happened. All three rushed towards her at the same time. She didn't even have time to react.

The largest of the three tackled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. She felt like she was being crushed. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. As she gasped for air, she freed her arm and tried using the heel of her hand to his him in the nose, but he blocked the blow and held her arm tighter, cutting off the circulation.

"Leave her alone!" Relief swept through Mulan's body; it was Shang! The large man lifted his weight off her, allowing Mulan to catch her breath. While the men were larger than she was, none were bigger than Shang was. He was quite intimidating in his armor and the three seemed to hesitate on whether to fight or run away. Suddenly, one turned and ran back into the bar. The other two quickly followed their friend.

Mulan picked herself up off the ground, her back to Khan and her first attacker. Shang walked over to help her after putting his sword back into its scabbard. She looked into his eyes and, to her surprise, saw worry evident in them.

"Are you okay?" Shang asked, grasping her by the shoulders. She felt weak as the adrenaline wore off. He scanned her for injuries and suddenly pulled her towards him. In the same motion, he yanked out his sword again and slashed out against the first man. The swipe caught him in the arm and he decided that he also would go back into the bar.

"Why did you come, Shang?" Mulan asked. Shang didn't answer her question, though.

"What are you doing here?!" Shang yelled, but this time, his voice was full of concern. "Didn't you realize what the people are like here?"

"I'm sorry, Shang." Mulan looked down, refusing, again, to cry because of him. "I just... never mind." She didn't want to tell him why she was here. She figured he'd tell her that it was a really stupid reason.

"Let's get back to camp." Shang said. "You're going to start training again."

Short again, I know! But, a short update is better than no update at all..... right? Please don't hurt me.