Wow! 10 reviews on chapter 11 and one more on chapter 1!! Thanks a TON to all of you! I'm really glad you like it!! Here goes chapter 12 and it should be a longer one....I hope.

Disclaimer: not mine.

Last time:

"Shang..." She choked, falling forward even more. "Help....me..." She fell into unconsciousness, leaning forward and dropping off Khan's back face-first into the snow.

Khan jumped at the sudden movement and gave a whinny when Mulan didn't move. He nudged her with his muzzle and snorted, frantically trying to figure out what was wrong. He seemed to dance around in the snow, panicking; she had never fallen off of him like that before. He soon settled down and, sensing that she was still shivering, he laid down next to her. It was almost as though he knew to use his own body heat to keep her warm. They laid like that for a long time, the snow forming a white blanket over them.

Shang had trotted for about an hour against the wind when he found Mulan's camp. The sticks were almost buried, but Shang could tell she had been there by the large imprint in the snow where Khan had slept. He noted the direction the barely visible tracks left the trees and began to follow it. It soon disappeared but Shang kept going in a straight line, hoping that Mulan had as well.

Mulan still lay unconscious. Both horse and rider were buried in close to three inches of snow. With the wind, the snow was quickly blown away and replaced. Without warning, Khan lifted his large head, his ears turned back, listening. He stood up, causing the snow to cascade from his body. He began to prance in a circle around Mulan, snorting and whinnying to call attention to himself.

Then, as quickly as he started, he stopped moving in a circle and seemed to trot in place. His ears were alert and forward. His eyes were also forward, even though the snow prevented much line of sight.

Shang's stallions ears turned forward the second Khan realized they were there. The stallion heard Khan's commotion before Shang even knew what was going on and started moving more forward. Shang sensed the quickened step and was soon able to hear Khan as well. They came up on Khan and Shang jumped off his stallion before even coming to a halt.

Khan was again prancing in a frantic circle around Mulan. As seeing this, Shang began pushing the layer of snow away. Mulan had stopped shivering. He quickly rolled her onto her back and checked for a pulse and breathing. He was relieved to find both. However, her face was blue from the cold and her lips were slightly purple. Shang stood up and ran over to his stallion and grabbed three blankets out of the bags.

After removing Mulan's armor, be began rubbing her arms and legs briskly until they were beginning to feel warm. He wrapped her in the blankets and, after shoving her armor into a bag, lifted her off the ground.

Shang hesitantly moved towards Khan. Khan had stopped prancing and stood stalk still. Shang was surprised, but draped Mulan over his back before climbing on. Knowing his stallion would follow, he made his way back to the spot Mulan had used as a campsite. He carefully took her limp form off Khan's back and laid her in the snow. Shang quickly began breaking branches to build a fire. After starting it, he began removing the blankets from Mulan's body. Seeing that her boots were frozen, he peeled them off. He also peeled off her stocking and was relieved that her skin wasn't frozen as well.

He had on four pairs of stockings. Shang removed all of them and chose the two innermost and thickest pairs and put them on her exposed feet. He then set her boots and stockings by the fire to thaw and dry. Shang gave a quick whistle and his horse walked forward a few steps. Shang reached up and removed the bags. After setting them on the ground, he reached into the bags and pulled out a pair of gloves that were used for training. He shoved Mulan's stiff hands into them and began rubbing her hands until, when he pulled the gloves off, they seemed a little warm.

He put the gloves back on her hands and then pulled the rest of the blankets out of the bags. He wrapped one around himself and the rest around Mulan. He sat facing the fire with Mulan sitting in front of him, leaning against his chest.

Shang noticed that her skin seemed to be less blue and she began to shiver. Her teeth chattered and her eyes remained closed. He rubbed her arms through the blankets. Her shivering grew worse and worse, but it was a good sign- her body was trying to warm itself up and she was still very much alive.

Mulan had been vaguely aware of the fact that she was feeling warmer. She felt surrounded by a clouded blackness that never seemed to end. Her body shook, but she couldn't figure out why; her mind wasn't registering the cold very well, only the warmth. She was becoming frustrated because she couldn't think straight. Her mind itself seemed foggy.

She was determined to figure out what was going on. She concentrated on the fogginess going away and her mind seemed to clear a small amount. Mulan suddenly found herself in pitch darkness. She slowly realized that her eyes were closed.

Mulan opened her eyes slightly, but the bright whiteness of the snow was blinding. She squinted and groggily took in her surroundings. She became aware that she was somewhat sitting up in front of a fire. She also noticed a white horse standing with Khan.

'What's a white horse doing...?' Just then, she realized that she was not leaning against Khan. Another wave of shivers wracked her body and she whimpered slightly from the pain it caused in her somewhat numb limbs. Shang's eyes widened and he jumped a little at the sudden sound from the small frame in his arms.

"Mulan?" Shang asked, shifting slightly so he could see her face. He was relieved to find that very little of the blue color remained. Only her lips had any of the hue left. He could tell that she was in a daze, somewhat unaware of her surroundings.

"Mulan?" Shang said again. "Are you okay?"

"Who's...?" She trailed off, still unable to think straight. Nor was she able to open her eyes because of the bright whiteness.

"It's me, Mulan," Shang answered her question. "It's Shang."

"How did you...?" Again, her question was unfinished. Her head was beginning to pound.

"Your horse was making quite a commotion." Shang answered, again understanding exactly what she meant.

"Khan?"

"Yes, Mulan," He loved the sound of her name on his tongue. "Khan was really worried about you."

"S-so cold..." Mulan winced as she shivered again. Shang suddenly went into General mode.

"Can you feel your toes?" He asked. She nodded in reply. "Your fingers?" Again, she nodded. "Good."

"What are...?" Mulan wondered as he began removing the blankets surrounding her. He paused for a second and removed his armor and tossed in a pile near the bag that contained hers. He then began wrapping the blankets around both of them, using his body heat to try to warm her.

"Better?" He asked. She nodded again as her eyelids started to droop. "Mulan!" he shook her, causing her to open her eyes again. "Stay awake! Please!"

"I'm sorry..." Mulan drifted off, back into unconsciousness.

"Mulan, please!" He shook her again but she didn't open her eyes this time. His head fell against hers and he gave her a tight hug. "It's okay," he whispered in her seemingly unhearing ear, "as long as you open your beautiful eyes again." Shang wrapped the blankets around her and gently laid her on the ground. Then he hurriedly shoved his armor in the bag with hers. Her boots and stockings were not yet dry, but they went into this bag as well. The bag was tied back onto Shang's stallion.

"Khan," Shang looked at the huge horse. "I need you to carry us again." Khan walked a few steps over to where Mulan's still form was. Shang sighed with relief and lifted Mulan onto Khan's back so she was lying on her stomach with her feet on one side of Khan's back and her head on the other. He pulled himself up after grabbing the reigns and sat behind where Mulan was.

Because her feet were held together by the blankets, she would have to remain perpendicular to Khan's body. Shang carefully rolled her over and cradled her with his right arm. He would use his feet to steer, along with his left hand. He took a moment to become accustomed to riding such a big horse. He hadn't noticed the difference before because of his adrenaline rush. After riding his own stallion for so long, Khan seemed very big. Just before they left their shelter, Shang pulled the blankets up to shield Mulan's neck and turned her towards his chest to protect her face from the wind. He gave a little whistle to his stallion and clicked his tongue, telling Khan that it was time to go. Khan readily walked out into the wind, knowing they were returning to camp.

By now, Shang couldn't be certain of the exact direction that camp was in. He could merely guess the general direction and hope the guess brought him close. Hours passed and he was starting to think that he had missed the camp.

All of a sudden, he realized that he could make out shapes of lonely trees. He remembered that there were a few trees in a field a ways away from the camp. The wind was dying down and was becoming less piercing.

Regardless, Mulan had started shivering again. The random spasms were making Shang's arm ache. He knew he'd have to stop and rest, but he just wanted to get her into the care of a doctor where she'd be warm. When he could no longer take the aching, he pulled lightly on Khan's reigns and the large horse came to a stop. Shang's own stallion came up beside them as though wondering what was going on.

Shang balanced Mulan so she was leaning against his chest to rest his arm. He only paused for about five minutes and then he was off again. This time, he tried to get Khan to cantor. After several tries, Khan managed it in the knee-deep snow. Shang knew he couldn't keep this gait up for long, but he wanted Khan to warm up again after cooling off while Shang rested. Soon, Khan was breathing heavily and Shang allowed him to slow to a walk.

It was getting easier to see and Shang could now make out the shadow of the clouds in the sky when he looked up. The wind had lessened even more and the snow was no longer swirling. The wind had also changed direction and now pushed the small group " Mulan muttered. Shang jumped and looked down at her. Her eyes were half-open and she seemed to be in a state of semi-consciousness.

"I know," he squeezed her body slightly. "I am, too." He eyes opened fully for a split second before drifting closed again as a wave of shivers overtook her body.

"Where...?" Mulan was fighting hard for consciousness, and Shang could tell. She forced her eyes back open.

"I don't know." Shang answered, again giving her a small, comforting squeeze.

The blackness of consciousness was closing around her again, but Mulan refused to let it best her. She wanted to stay awake, but her mind would not clear. The fogginess prevailed as the black void enveloped her. It was strange, though, that while she could hear Shang, she couldn't see him. It scared her a little, because she couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. The more she thought, lethargically, about it, the more she was convinced that she was imagining his words; that her mind was hallucinating because of the cold.

Then, there was nothing. She could no longer hear his words. His voice seemed to fade away as she slipped deeper and deeper into the void. She absently thought about the fact that she was no longer cold; she wasn't shivering anymore and she didn't need to. She also wondered why, though. What was happening? She could hear his voice again...calling her name; pleading with her to come back. But where had she gone?

Suddenly, she was cold again, and shivering. She wanted so bad to go back to the warmth, but something told her that that warmth wasn't good, so she obeyed and allowed herself to follow the frantic voice.

Well, I guess that was a little longer than the others. I had hoped it would be longer because I had it written out and it took up a lot of pages. I guess I should've known it wouldn't work out that way. Oh well.

Oh yeah, I wanted to let everyone know that everything I put in here about the horses (their gaits and how to handle them) is true! I love being able to put stuff like that in because I ride horses a lot. This can be a bad thing though. If someone doesn't understand when I talk 'horse lingo' please tell me so that I can explain! I don't want anyone to be confused!! Please review!!