Disclaimer: It does not belong to me, much to my sadness

Ling ran into his tent, quickly gathering up all of I belongings into a pack. The General needed their help! This was indeed important! As soon as the men had returned from their nighttime swim, they had all been summoned onto the parade grounds, where they had been told that "training was over, now the real work begins" (here Ling had struggled not to say that Shang had told them that the 'real work' had begun 6 weeks ago).

After he was finished packing, he had about ten minutes of free time. He always was a quick packer, and he didn't have may belongings to start with. He sat and thought. Strangely enough, his thoughts kept returning to Ping. Ping, bruised and injured after a fight; Ping, shining with pride and sweat atop of the pole; Ping, wet with lake water, long hair plastered to his neck and shoulders. Ah, screw it, Ling liked Ping. And in a slightly more than friendly way. At least, Ling mused, out of all the men there, he liked the most feminine of the bunch.

Ling knew, of course, that to like boys was not good, and would get him discharged from the army, bringing shame down on his family for generations, but he couldn't help it. He was greatly attracted to the little soldier. He heard Shang calling them out onto the parade grounds, ordering them to march to the Tung-Shao Pass. NOW. Everybody moved.

Ling could see that his comrades were weary from the long march, their heavy armour weighing on them. Time to bring in his tried-and-true way of cheering them up: Singing About Women. He started with the customary introduction, then went straight into his 'ideal women'. This time though, his heart wasn't in it. He kept shooting glances at Ping to see what he thought of the song. To his surprise (and happiness) Ping looked more than a little uncomfortable. What did that mean? Did he-no, that would be to much to hope for. Besides, he would probably like Captain Shang if he did fancy men anyway. Sighing, he tuned back in to what the men were saying. Oh look, a nice river to carry their gear across. Joy. Yao fake-leered at Ping, making Ling seethe internally. God, what the hell did Yao think he was doing, hitting on Ping! Calm down Ling, calm down. Besides, he's obviously joking. Besides, it's not like Ping is yours or anything. You don't even know if he likes men! Hell, you didn't like men till a couple of days ago! Calmed down a bit, he returned to the song.

When it came to Ping's part of the song, Ling made sure to listen extra carefully. What would the little man say?

"How bout a girl

Who's got a brain

And always

Speaks her mind…?"

Yao and Chien-Po thought about it for a second before dismissing it completely. Ling, however, was intrigued. That sort of thing was hardly lady-like. Maybe there was a chance. The song continued on until they got to the village. The army stopped, horrified at the sight in front of their eyes.

The entire village was burnt to the ground. The little huts that used to sit there were now skeletons of char. There wasn't a soul alive. Their captain also was appalled. His father was supposed to have been there, Ling knew. Why hadn't he been able to stop it? Or, at the very least, be there to greet them? The men swiftly moved into the village to search for survivors. There were more important things than dwelling on pretty young men. There may be someone who could tell them what had happened, or, even better, a Hun soldier. When searching a house, Ling saw Shang speaking to Ping. His eyes flashed for a second, before telling himself that it was perfectly normal for a captain to talk to his soldier without having other intentions. Goodness, he really was getting grabby wasn't he? He would have to stop that. Suddenly, he saw Chien-Po come over the hill, the General's helmet cradled in his large arms. Shang's eyes widened with alarm. Ling rushed to the crest of the hill, and he felt his heart fall. Every one of the Imperial regiment was dead. There were some Hun bodies, but not nearly as many as Chinese ones. He turned and went back to the cannons, knowing that they had to move on, to get to the Imperial city before the Huns did. They could save their Emperor and their country if they moved quickly. Looking back to see where Ping was, he saw him with Shang again, they seemed to be conducting an almost funeral type thing. Shang rested his father's helmet on the General's sword. As he brushed past Ping, the young soldier put something at the base of the marker, and turned back to the rest of the regiment. Looking closer with his sharp eyes, Ling saw that it was a doll, like a young girl might have. Touched by the boy's action, he followed his captain and comrades to the Imperial City to defeat the Huns.

Hehe. Sorry it took so long. I thought that i would have had it up MUCH earlier than this, but actually, i haven't seen the movie since my last chapter, and only just saw it today. So, here it is, chapter 3 of my lovely story. Ling gets a bit more sappy and grabby, in case you haven't noticed, but i'm gonna try to see if i can make him stop it. Anyway, Review if you love me!