Chapter the fifth

Thank you for the reviews and choices for what I should do next. I've made my decision on what I'm going to do, but you'll have to read further to find out what that is. Special thanks to Mizu-ryuuseisui for all the suggestions. I plan to use few and credit you for them in future chapters. KingOfTheRock thank you very much for your positive review. My E-mail is Thanks again to all my reviewers!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mulan. All original characters are copyright Disney. Fi Wan is mine, but feel free to use him in your story if you want.

Chi Fu grinned a twisted grin and for once, he scared the gang of three. He had an almost insane look in his eyes.

"Perhaps I should rephrase the question." He said, putting the knife closer to Yao's throat. "Tell me where they went or ill see to it that your heads no longer sit between your shoulders." Emotions were mixed in their brains. Now because of what had happened earlier, they knew that Chi Fu could actually do damage. He'll kill us if we don't tell him! But we can't do that to Mulan or Shang. He's the only traitor, turning on his own army. Chien Po came up with the answer after closing his eyes and letting his ancestors tell him what to say.

"Chi Fu, the answer is no." He said firmly.

"Yeah!" Ling agreed. "We wouldn't stab our friends in the back for you if you were the emperor!" At this, Chi Fu's face seemed to soften and he pulled his knife away, giving Yao room to breathe.

"Come now." Said Chi Fu. It now was like he was trying to convince them to give in. "It's not like you have anything to lose. Just tell me and I won't say anything about you to the emperor. It's a fair bargain." The gang turned their backs to him and had a mini discussion of what to do. Ling's eyes narrowed and his face turned sullen as he spoke.

"We don't bargain with madmen." He said. This comment made Chi Fu mad. Yao decided to add to it, seeing Chi Fu fuming.

"What's more, you'll never find them on your own." He spat. "You're too dumb too possibly figure out that they went west to a patch of mountains!" As soon as he finished saying it, he relized his fatal mistake and clasped a hand over his mouth. Chi Fu grinned even more.

"Wasn't that nice of you. Now you've saved me the trouble of looking for them." He said and turned to his men." Make tracks west, men. Keep an eye out for a small patch of mountains and a couple of fugitives." With that, Chi Fu flashed Yao one more smile and got back on his horse. The gang was still in pure shock. Yao's face was twisted with remorse and fear. He was breathing heavily, waiting for someone to say something.

"No." he whispered, his head sinking into his knees.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE CAVE

Shang and Mulan were growing weaker by the minute. They had no source of protein, but they managed to keep aware by living off nuts and berries from the trees and bushes. One morning, Shang set out to collect the berries from the tree with Mulan with him. He had picked only a few when he heard a call. It was a man's voice. A painfully familiar man's voice. He heard grunts and cries. Then, his jaw almost dropped to the ground when he saw the one thing he thought were gone for good. Huns.

"Mulan." He whispered urgently. She turned around and Mulan walked over beside him behind the bush. It made her heart beat fast being this close to him, but she immediately forget about it when she saw five, huge huns including Shan Yu climbing out of the snow.

"That can't be." She said in a whisper. They were dead. They had to be!

"They're headed north. I think they're going to the imperial city." Shang said.

"What can we do?" asked Mulan. The huns were coming to wipe out the emperor and the only ones who knew about it were a few people that the law was searching for.

"We have to get to the emperor before Chi Fu tells him about us." Shang said. "Let's go." Just as he turned around, his foot turned into a small gopher hole and he fell flat on his face.

" Oh my god, are you okay?" Mulan asked, rushing to his side pulling to his feet.

"I'm fi-OW!" Shang started out fine, but when he stepped on his left leg, pain seered through his ankle and he sat back down.

"What is it?" Mulan asked, kneeling beside him.

"I'm fine." Shang said again, though that was a complete lie.

" Shang, you're obviously not fine. It looks like a minor sprain to me. Can you walk? How did it happen?"

" I stepped in a hole. I'll be fine. I'll walk it off." Mulan thought about how to get him back to the cave so he could rest his leg comfortably. Eventually, Shang out his arm around Mulan's shoulder and limped back. They both actually enjoyed it immensly, being so near to each other. When they reached it, what remained of Shang's cape was torn into strips and wrapped around his leg. A fire was made and the two sat, munching on the few nuts Mulan had collected. Shang sighed.

"What can we possibly do? The horses are in no condition to be ridden, and I can't walk it with my leg. But then, what can you expect from me." Mulan was puzzled. She wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"If I weren't so clumsy, the whole ankle incident could have been avoided."

"You? Clumsy?" Mulan said. Shang was the last person of who she thought clumsy.

"Yes." Said Shang. " Before I joined the army, I was always knocking things over. I couldn't walk two feet without tripping. That reminds me of one particular scenario…"

FLASHBACK

"Shang, I'll take care of it. You go." Sixteen year old Li Shang had just picked himself up off the floor after knocking over his mothers pot of plants.

"Thanks, mother." He said quickly before running into the front room. The previous day he had been enrolled in the army. Shang was very gawky and was nervous that his clumsiness would dishonor his father, the great imperial general. All Shang had ever wanted was to make his father proud, and today was the day that would start him on that path. Hung above the fireplace were large portraits of all the previous Li family generals. Shang came from a line of six Li soldiers that had become captains and eventually generals. When they started the army, they had their portrait done and set above the mantle. The newest addition would be his.

He entered the main room where a stool had been set out in front of a short man who was the painter. Dressed in armor, he was met with his fathers' scowl because of his lateness. He had just opened his mouth to speak when his father waved him silent.

" None of your excuses." He said. "Sit here." He sat Shang on a stool in front of the man. The little man came out from behind the canvas and inspected Shang's position.

"Now I suppose you know what's going to happen. I am a particular type of portrait painter known as a speedpainter so I work a bit differently than the usual artist. I capture the soul with my quick style! Free the spirit! Unleash the inner beauty!" As he was raving on, Shang came to the conclusion that the guy was a nutcase. (Authors note: I know there are no such thing as speed painters, but that's how I need it to be, so just go with it.)

"Now sit still, and I should be done the portrait in a matter of seconds." The man said. He came over and adjusted Shang's leg position so his back would be straighter. It was very hard for Shang to balance on.

"Ready? I'm going to take one look at you, and I'll paint. Ready?" the painter asked.

"Uh, I'm kind of unstable…" Shang started to protest, but the man had started his count. "Whoa!" he stumbled trying to keep his balance.

"One…two…

"Wait!" Shang said, becoming more unbalanced and almost falling. He was just trying to keep straight when ;

"Three." No later had he said it, when Shang toppled off the chair with a crash. However, it was too late and the man had finished painting what he saw in the time it took Shang to get up. When Shang looked at it, his face fell. All the man had painted was what he saw: Shang falling off a stool. What was depicted was Shang tumbling off the stool that had been propelled into the right hand corner. What you could see of his face was a wide-eyed expression and his hands flying in the air. Next his father came to look at it.

"We can't possibly put that up. It's terrible! Let's try again." He said, obviously displeased.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay. I'm on a very tight schedule." Said the painter, gathering up his things. "I'm booked solid. Don't worry. That picture shows a lot of what the boy is: incredibly clumsy." He said with a laugh before heading for the door.

Shang was just standing there, feeling more ashamed of his clumsy nature than ever. He just looked up at his father then at the wall of portraits of the esteemed generals and headed outside to sit by the little stream that ran into their yard.

He had been out there about 10 minutes when his father came out and sat next to him. (does this remind you of anything?)

"Shang, don't worry. We can get a new one painted on a better stool." He said, hoping to lift his sons' spirits. Shang sighed.

"It's not that." He said. " Look at me. I'll never be a general or even a worthy soldier. I'm such a klutz that I can't get a portrait done with out looking like a fool."

"Shang, all you need to do is find your center of balance and you'll do fine. The army will do you good. I know you can do it and become a great warrior to keep our family tradition alive." He said. Those words alone meant the world and a half to Shang.

"How do you know?" he challenged further.

"You're my son, aren't you?" said his father with a smile before walking up and retreating to the house.

END FLASHBACK

"He was right. I found my center of balance and I became a captain at least." Shang finished. Mulan was listening spellbound as she reflected on her own father's words.

"That sounds very similar to what happened the day I came to war… " Mulan began her tale of her epic with the matchmaker. Shang's jaw dropped many times in the story as he heard about Mulan's wild adventures just like hers did during his story. This made them feel even more connected.

"I don't believe that someone with as much skill as you could have done all that." Said Shang when she had finished. Mulan felt the same way about his story.

"All I wanted was to honour my father. I came to war for him and nothing else." She said.

"That's another thing that's admirable about you, Mulan. Your selflessness." Shang said, causing Mulan to blush. Did I just say that? Shang asked himself in his head. It had become late, so Shang and Mulan said goodnight. Mulan lay awake, blushing and her heart beating furiously.

He said he admires me! Maybe he likes me! Oh, that's crazy talk. But still…

MEANWHILE, BACK WITH OUR GANG…

Yao still couldn't believe it. He had slipped up, and now Mulan and Shang would be found. The other two had gone to sleep, but Yao found it impossible. The only thing they could do was warn Mulan and Shang, but how?

"Guys, wake up." Yao said. They did almost immediately because of their guilty conciense that wouldn't let them sleep well. "We have to do something."

"Listen closely." Said Ling. "There is nothing we can do. I thought that would've been made clear from our last escape that bombed.

"I can't believe you guys!" Yao said. "We're the only things between Mulan and Shang and imminent death, and you guys won't do a thing. Well I won't let that happen! I'm going to find them before Chi Fu does." Ling and Chien Po just looked at each other before reluctantly agreeing to help Yao. Their new plan was just like the last one, except this time they weren't going to stop until they found Mulan and Shang.

Early the next morning, the three got to their feet, still bound at the hands and torso and ran. It was lame, but it was their only hope. They had only run around a corner of mountains when Fi Wan saw them disappearing.

"Chi Fu,sir." He said with a salute. "They aren't far. We can catch them."

"No." said Chi Fu. "I have a better idea." His face turned into an evil grin.

Hope you liked it. I am officially crediting Mizu-ryuuseisui for the idea of Shang spraining his ankle. This is the longest chapter so far and my fingers hurt. Please review this chapter!