I'm glad people finally reviewed! I was starting to get a little worried that no one was reading anymore!

Disclaimer: not mine.

Last time:

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.

"We have a new training exercise tonight." Shang looked sharply down the line as the troops began to murmur amongst themselves. They all quickly fell silent. "You will each receive a sling shot and a bag of berries. There will be five berries in each bag. When you hit someone else, they are considered 'dead' and you may take what is left in their bag of berries as well as their sling shot. The last person still 'alive' will have the day off tomorrow."

'This should be interesting.' Mulan thought. She looked out of the corner of her eye down the line. The young men seemed excited at the idea of a day off. She could tell some were already plotting a strategy.

"There are a few more rules," Shang continued. "There will be no trickery in this camp! Also, you are not to form any teams, alliances, or the like. Are there any questions?" No one stepped forward. "Good. Sung! Bring me the bag!" Sung walked over to Shang from his tent. He was carrying two bags. Each recruit was given a bag of berries and a sling-shot.

"This exercise will last until dawn unless there is only one person standing before then. If there is a tie, no one will get the day off, after all, that means that you did not win. Also, you must wait five minutes before you are able to fire on anyone. I will light a flare to tell you when to attack. If you are hit, there will be a fire near the cook's tent. You will come there so I can see how many others are left, then you may turn in for the night." Shang looked across the line. "Now go!"

The troops scurried off, each trying to get away from the others. Mulan ran straight to the horses. There were trees nearby and she needed to use the dense foliage as camouflage because her clothes were cream-colored. She quickly jumped into the tree and pulled herself high into the branches.

Mulan found a small hole in the foliage and looked for the flare that told her that she could begin shooting. As soon as she saw it, she began looking for the somewhat clumsy men that were her targets.

A full five minutes passed before she even saw one person. He was across the horse corral, trying to stay in the shadows of the tents. He was doing a pretty good job of it and the other recruits probably wouldn't have noticed him. However, Mulan had trained before and knew what to look for.

Mulan carefully extracted a berry from her little bag and put it in the sling-shot. She pulled it back as far as it would go and took aim. The man was moving so it was a little harder to make sure that she would hit him. Suddenly, he stopped moving. Mulan released the berry. It sailed over the sleepy horses' heads and nailed its target square in the forehead!

"Yesss!" Mulan hissed and scrambled down from the tree to collect the man's berries and sling shot. He shook his head when he saw that it was a woman who had hit him. He nodded in her direction as she approached cautiously. He handed his weapon and ammunition over silently and disappeared back into the camp.

Mulan jumped into the shadow of the test she was standing next to. She crouched low and looked for a safe way back to her tree. She could see someone else walking among the horses. She couldn't see who it was, but she knew that he would make it difficult to get back to her hiding spot.

Knowing her light colored clothing would give her away easily, Mulan slowly made her way back to her tent. She constantly glanced around her, walking as softly as she could. When she was sure no one could see her, she dashed across the isle way and into her tent.

Mulan dug through her back for something black. She came across an old training suit and changed her clothes. She moved silently to the flap at the entrance of the tent. Mulan moved it aside slightly and leaned forward just a little to see if there was anyone around. She didn't see anyone so she crept out of the tent.

Mulan made sure to keep to the shadows, out of the moonlight. Constantly, she looked for anyone that may be ready to shoot at her. When she got to the end of the row of tents, she heard footsteps. There was someone coming from the other side of the tent! She knew that they were unaware of her presence because they had not stopped like she had.

She crouched low, her sling-shot ready. As the person rounded the corner, Mulan look at quick glance to make sure he had a sling shot. As soon as she saw one, she fired her berry, hitting the man in the shoulder. He looked around, surprised before spotting him in the shadows. He bowed slightly and handed her his sling-shot and little bag before continuing on his way, this time back to the fire to be checked in.

Mulan glanced around her to see if she had drawn any attention to herself. Seeing no one, she made a dash for a tree on the near of the horse pasture. Mulan noticed that the horses were uneasy which meant that there was someone in the pasture. In the moonlight, she could see that Khan's ears were pointed back (but not pinned) and several other horses' ears were pointing in the same direction. This told her that the man hiding there was in that direction.

"Khan!" Mulan hissed. His ears moved so that they were pointing at her. He slowly walked in her direction. Mulan crawled under the lower fence pole and glanced through the horses' legs, trying to find the man in the pasture. She could see his feet. His toes were pointing in the other direction and he seemed to ignore the Khan's movement.

Khan stood next to Mulan, hiding her with his body. Mulan took a step forward and Khan did the same. As they walked slowly towards the man, Mulan matched her footsteps with Khan's front hooves so that the man wouldn't hear her walking. As she walked, she readied her sling-shot. She peeked over Khan's back to see where the man was. Suddenly, he looked in her direction!

Mulan ducked, but it was too late! He had seen her! She heard a berry hit the ground near her feet and she started running. Khan trotted along next to her, still acting as her shield. Suddenly, the man appeared in front of her. Mulan stopped and put pressure on Khan's loin, causing him to move his rear end around so he was between the man and herself. She stood at Khan's head so his front legs would not allow the man to shoot at her legs.

Suddenly, the man realized that he was completely out in the open. Mulan realized this, too and leaned around Khan's neck with her sling-shot. Before shooting the berry, she grabbed another out of her bag. The one she held in her hand, she threw up into the air. The man watched that one! Mulan took her chance and shot him in the chest.

The man was startled and he looked down, realizing that he had fallen for an easy trick. He rolled his eyes at himself and handed over his weapon and little bag. Mulan watched him walk away and then turned to Khan who was still standing next to her.

"Thanks, Khan." Mulan patted his shoulder. He whinnied softly and bumped her with his muzzle. She rubbed his forehead and began to walk back towards her tree. Suddenly, he whinnied again and knocked her forward with his muzzle. Just as he did, a berry came whizzing by her head. Another promptly flew in front of her. Mulan fumbled for her sling shot as she ran for cover, again using Khan as a shield. As she tried to figure out where the berries were coming from, another flew over Khan's head.

"Someone's aim is a little off…" Mulan muttered. She peeked over Khan's back and saw a black silhouette near a tent. Unfortunately for them, there was a light on in a tent nearby and the glow allowed Mulan to see him. Once again, she got her sling-shot ready. She placed the end on Khan's back to stabilize it and aimed at the person who seemed to be having trouble fishing out another berry. She pulled back and released the berry. She couldn't tell where it hit, only that it did hit him.

He walked out into the pasture, jumping the fence. Mulan stepped in front of Khan and took the man's sling-shot and berries. He turned and walked away with out saying anything to her. Mulan turned back to Khan and rubbed his muzzle. He followed her to the other side of the pasture where she jumped the fence and walked to her tree. She climbed up to the branch she had been sitting on before and waited for someone else to come.

As she sat there, she began to feel a little sleepy. Her eyelids drooped and she found herself nodding off. She tried really hard to stay awake, but to no avail. Soon, she was sleeping, leaning on the thick tree trunk. The branch she was on was large and she didn't move much in her sleep.

"Mulan!!" A male voice called. "Mulan! Where are you?" It was now morning and Mulan was still sleeping in the tree. She snapped awake, almost loosing her balance on the branch. Mulan saw that the sun was just beginning to rise.

"Mulan?" The voice called again. This time, she noticed that it belonged to Shang. She could see him walking towards her tree. He looked worried.

'Why would he be worried about me?' Mulan wondered and she began to climb down from the tree. When she got to the lowest branch, she jumped and landed softly on the ground.

"Mulan!" Shang ran over to her. "Where have you been?!" He looked her over, as though looking for injuries. He still looked worried.

"I was in that tree…" Mulan said. "I guess I fell asleep there last night."

"Are you okay?" Shang asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered.

"Good." Shang replied. "Breakfast will be ready soon." He turned with out saying anything else and walked away.

I hope no one found this boring! It was pretty fun to write! Don't worry; there will be more Mulan/Shang interaction in the near future!!