Yay! Reviews! I'm glad no one chose to hurt me! lol.
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Last time:
"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."
The ride back to camp was a short one as the camp was nearby. When they got there, Deng was waiting anxiously. As soon as he saw them trotting up the path, he ran towards Mulan. He barely gave her a chance to halt her horse before pulling her off Khan to go to the medic tent.
"But, Deng! I'm fine!" Mulan insisted.
"I'm just going to make sure!" Deng answered.
"No! I'm going to start training again!"
"She's fine, Deng." Shang said quietly. "I'm going to have her start training again because of this. I want her to start today." Mulan was still trying to pull away from Deng to follow Shang. Deng sighed, finally complying, and released her.
"Let's go, Mulan." Shang snapped, suddenly reverting to being cold. Mulan was confused again. He had been so nice before; why did this happen again? Perhaps it was because he thought that the recruits would need to see a strong general...
Mulan followed Shang to where the recruits were sitting. By the looks of it, Deng had tried to get them to meditate, but not many were able to manage it. Only the few adults who had been doing this for a long time were successful. As soon as they saw Shang, they jumped to attention, forming the line.
"Due to an incident this morning, Mulan will now be training with us." Shang glared at the recruits. "Her rank is higher than yours so I expect no disrespect. Is that understood?" 'Yes sirs' were heard from the recruits. "Good." Shang turned and began walking towards the river. The recruits followed obediently.
Mulan walked next to Shang, wondering if they were to be doing the exercise where they went across the river by jumping from pole to pole. She was correct as Shang began instructing the recruits on how to manage the exercise. She wondered to herself why they hadn't done this one yet. She didn't get a chance to ask her question, though, because Shang volunteered her to demonstrate.
"Go on, Mulan." Shang snapped at her. "Since you chose not to pay attention, show us the exercise." His words hurt her, but she pushed it away. She walked up to the edge of the river and jumped to the first pole. Keeping her balance with her arms, she made it across the river to the other side. Then, she turned around and came back.
"General?" Mulan looked at him, wondering what to do next. He merely nodded at her.
"Mulan made it look easy, however this is not so." Shang addressed the soldiers. He pointed to one. "You, go first. The rest follow, keeping two poles between you at all times. Wait on the other side." He gave a sharp nod to the young man he chose to go first. He started across the poles, swaying while trying to balance. The next man went when the first had reached the third pole. The rest followed-suit. Five had made it across when one fell into the river below.
"You!" Shang yelled to those on the other side of the river. "Help your fellow soldier!" The men took off at a run following him down the river. "Mulan, go make sure he gets out." Mulan nodded and chased after the man on her side of the river.
While the other soldiers ran along the bank, they had no idea how to reach him. They had no rope to pull him out and none were willing to jump in. Mulan, however, had an idea. There were trees along the bank that were similar to weeping willows; their branches were like vines. Mulan grabbed a bunch, knowing that just one wouldn't hold him. She twisted them together as she ran, tying a knot at each end.
Suddenly, she realized that she was not going to be able to pull him out herself. She needed to get to the other side of the river. Mulan looked frantically for a way to get to the other side of the river. There was no way that she could see! Mulan picked up her running pace and managed to get ahead of the man in the water. Suddenly, she came upon a log that had fallen across the river at a narrow point.
Mulan ran, carefully, out to the middle. It was a large log, so she had no problem balancing. There was no time to get all the way across; if she didn't catch him, they'd lose him. She knelt down on the log as she was tying two knots in her make-shift rope to form a loop at each end. Mulan put one loop around her stomach then turned to watch for the man. Just as he passed under her log, she flung the rope at him. It hit him and he managed to catch it.
"Put the loop around your chest!" Mulan yelled at him and she didn't wait for his reply. Suddenly, she found herself slipping off the log. Mulan quickly grabbed on to the log with both hands and dug her feet in, but the log was damp and she was losing her grip! The current was pulling on the man in the water really hard and the rope around Mulan's stomach was starting to hurt her. All of a sudden, Mulan lost her footing on the log and started sliding down, landing on her stomach. She tried to reach up around the log for a better grip, but she only slid down more! She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to hold on tighter, hoping for help but it never seemed to come. Just as she was about to slip into the river, two hands grabbed her wrists!
"We've got you, Mulan!" She opened her eyes to see Shang looking back at her. The other men grabbed the rope and cut it from around her stomach. They pulled the man out of the water at the river bank. Shang lifted Mulan onto the log and walked behind her to the river bank.
"Get him back to camp!" Shang snapped at the recruits, gesturing to the man that was in the water. Shang then rounded on Mulan. "I thought I told you to make sure he got out of the water!" Mulan was suddenly confused. She opened her mouth to reply but before she could, Shang continued. "This meant that the other troops were to do the rescuing!" Mulan winced, then looked up and glared at him.
"Yes, Shang, but-"
"No, Mulan!" Shang snapped, cutting her off. "You did not do as I asked! Now get back to camp! We are still having an evening session!" Mulan turned and walked quickly back to camp, her head down to hide the tears that had formed (but did not fall). It was time for dinner and then they would have a session after that.
Before going to dinner with the rest of the people, she went back to her tent to clean up. She splashed her face with a little water after forcing the tears away. Mulan walked silently out of her tent. Shang was also coming out of his tent.
Their eyes locked.
Shang's went from concerned to cold so fast that Mulan thought she was imagining it. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she lowered her eyes. Sighing, she turned and walked in the opposite direction. She could feel Shang's cold eyes burning into her back the whole time.
Instead of going to dinner at all, Mulan walked towards the horse pasture. There were many horses, but Khan seemed to have taken charge, even over Shang's stallion. The other horses seemed to scurry out of his way as he approached at Mulan's call. Mulan stepped up onto the bottom pole of the fence, making herself only a little taller. She reached up and played idly with Khan's forelock.
He stood there, calmly, his gentle eyes staring into hers. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak. He could sense that there was something wrong. Mulan sighed and climbed up so she was sitting on the top pole of the fence. She leaned forward against Khan's warm neck, taking comfort in the heat. Khan reached his head around her, seeming to give her a hug. He rubbed his broad cheek on her back.
"Why does he have to be like that, Khan?" Mulan spoke quietly into his neck. "I know he's stressed by his job, but why does he take it out on me?" She sighed again and sat up straight. Khan moved so he was facing her and tossed his head several times, hitting her playfully in the stomach.
"Khan!" Mulan giggled, pushing his head away, only to have him turn back and do it again. "I guess I should go to dinner." Mulan swung her feet over the fence and landed outside the corral. "See you later, Khan." She rubbed his forehead and turned to walk back to the cook's tent.
She got there just as many men were finishing up. There wasn't much time for her to eat, so she just got a bowl of rice and a small amount of chicken and ate quickly. The whole time she was eating, she could feel Shang's eyes on her. She would look up and he would look away quickly.
As soon as Mulan finished eating, the troops all stood from the table and walked outside to form their line. There was one empty space where the man who fell in the river should stand. Shang soon came to stand in front of the line and began explaining the training exercise.
Okay, I know this update took forever but as some of you know, I was having computer problems and I couldn't update. My computer is now fixed and that shouldn't happen again! Hope you liked it!