Oh my word you guys, it's been a rough two weeks.
I was completely knocked out by a flu that passed around and was bedridden for two weeks.
You'd think that would mean I'd be able to get even more chapters out, but I was so out of it, I couldn't even write!
Anyways, here is the third chapter finally - enjoy and please review!
*Disclaimer - Disney, please don't sue me. Mulan is the property of Disney, I'm just taking my creative license with it.*
That's me done.
Chapter 3:
Upon hearing that Mr. 'make a man outta you' was showing up, Mushu and Cri-Kee made themselves scarce, climbing up on the beams and blending into the shadows to observe this meeting like they did at any other time. Except this time it was different.
Mushu's baby girl didn't have a crush on anyone else she had to have meetings with, but pretty boy here was a different story. Between the one-upping him in training, the sacrificing herself for him on the cliff, and the pink cheeks (which, granted he had to squint to find), Mushu knew that General Shang was something more for Mulan. His eyes could see through more than armor, after all.
But whether or not to push things along or not was his question.
Mulan had saved China, but then proceeded to hide again, under the pretense that impersonating her dad in the army was some sorta crime in the eyes of the big wigs at top. Yeah yeah, Mushu had heard it many times from her, but he also had to have her best interests at heart here! He reminded himself that he was the girl's guardian, and if that meant setting up his baby girl with someone, then he was most obliged to do so, through any means necessary.
Only, she might not see it as such. She denied having any feelings for the general at all and might not see Mushu's attempts to help as helpful but he knew better.
His reptilian grin cut through the shadows on top of the tent beam as he surveyed the scene below. He knew just how to start this ball rolling too.
His eyes grew level with the other beams, gazing at his target. It seemed that the ancestors were on his side today; Shang might as well have sat on a painted X.
The thought rolled through the red mischief maker's head, as he stealthily made his way to the centerpiece of his plan. The sock. That dirty smelly thing, that would be able to cause so much chaos in just a few seconds.
He snickered.
Time to make things a little more lively.
...
Mulan took a deep steadying breath, as she poured tea into Shang's cup and then her own, adopting a false bravado in her voice as she spoke of the soldiers of her camp.
"Well, I don't mean to brag but things have been doing fantastic here. I've seen impressive progress in even our slowest learners. They've seen the top of the mountains numerous times, and they've tasted dirt more times than that," she chuckled apprehensively, looking at Shang from over the rim of her teacup as she drank.
She needed to make him sure of the fact that she was succeeding as captain.
"Chien-Po, Ling and Yao are learning as well, and are often demonstrating for the newer soldiers. Mainly because I tell them to, but I get the sense they use it to show off too." Her mind raced as she forced another chuckle, thinking what else would be considered of good report. "This week, we've been working on hitting the mark."
Shang cocked an eyebrow. "Hitting... the mark?"
Why had she said that?! "What I meant to say was uh, working on hitting the… targets! With bows and targets. Arrows, " she corrected, aggressively. "With bows and arrows, is uh, what I meant, of course." Another weak chuckle dwindled out over her teacup that she was quickly using to stop talking. Shang looked at her while silence reigned, his mouth twitching.
"Right. And.. how are the men doing at hitting the mark," he smiled, a teasing note hidden in his voice.
"Good, yes! Um, the men are catching on quite quickly, you know, with their target practice." She flung around the depths of her mind, desperately searching for anything a captain might request from their superior. "Maybe you could show them a thing or two in that area while you're here." Stumbling but passable. He had mentioned running a few of his own exercises, so it worked to get the awkward task of making conversation out of her hands.
"Yes actually, I was thinking that I would like to show your camp a few tricks I never showed you." He smiled at her, as he started to lift his cup.
No sooner had those words left his mouth, something fell from above him, landing in his cup and splashing tea all over him, the table and Mulan.
From up above, there was a quiet snicker that Mulan barely registered as she stared in frozen horror at her sock, sitting innocently in the tea cup from where Shang had dropped it on the table, while he spluttered and wiped tea from himself. She sprang into action grabbing a small towel from her cabinet, spitting out panicked apologies as she started dabbing the table furiously, face turning as red as Mushu's scales.
Shang grabbed the towel from her and started drying his face. If possible, her face turned even more red with embarrassment. The one thing that was not supposed to happen today, happened. She made herself look like an idiot.
"I'm so sorry general! I have no idea where that came from," she told him hurriedly, praying to any listening ancestors that this would be over soon. "That uh, that's not mine." She mentally facepalmed. "I mean! That's mine, but uh, it shouldn't… be in your, um... tea." The words trailed out of her mouth, ears hot with shame.
Shang looked up at her from where he was drying his armor, jaw twitching. "That's… alright Ping. Nothing to worry about, but seeing as I've been soaked in tea, I think I'll go see if the men have set up my tent so I can change. I might as well get ready to run some exercises right now then. If you want to gather the men, we can start right away on some training and leave the discussion about war till later." He stood up and Mulan watched some droplets make their way down his arm brace as he did.
"Of course, I'll just clean this up, and then I'll go do that. Absolutely, and again, uh sorry. That… wasn't how I planned this meeting would go." She waved her hands, backtracking her words through her mind. "Not that at any point I planned for my sock to fall into your tea, all I mean is that it shouldn't have been there in the first… place?" She found her voice petering out again, as he looked upwards, his mouth curving into a… smile? Mulan desperately hoped it was a smile, and that he wasn't angry by this whole thing like she was.
In fact, now that her initial shock had come and gone, her anger was mounting exponentially at a certain reptile who was almost certainly the bringer of all this.
Shang chuckled, and Mulan held her breath. Did he find this funny? It would be so much easier if he did, but confusion was also starting to take its place alongside her anger.
"It's quite alright Ping," he said, as he walked towards the entryway with what was definitely a smile on his face, stopping to look back at her. "See you on the training field."
And with that, he was outside, leaving Mulan in the middle of her tent to process everything that had just happened.
In the corner of her eyes, there dropped a red grinning face, looking towards the door with her, and chuckling to himself.
"Man oh man, it does NOT get more embarrassing than that!" Mushu turned towards her, upside down, tail clinging onto the beam above her, giving her a dung-eating grin that sealed his involvement in the falling of the sock.
"Guess this tent wasn't as uh, spotless, as you thought."
If the reptile has been smart, he would have taken notice of the waves of ire rolling off his charge and friend, but unfortunately for him, he either did not notice, or thought he did not deserve it. As it was, he patted her face, cooing the statement "You can thank me after you clean it up."
His body suddenly in her hand, Mulan moved as fast as lighting to haul him down from where he was hanging and she levelled him with a glare filled with the ferocity befit of China's saviour.
Mushu laughed nervously, realizing the turn of events he found himself in.
"Ahahaaa, now Mulan, let's not act rashly now, we're both responsible and mature. We can figure this oooouuUUUUUUUUUT!" His scream followed him out of the tent as Mulan launched him through the doorway.
...
Mulan found herself dressed in her training clothes again, surveying her soldiers as they huffed under the afternoon sun. She was currently running warm up exercises with them, waiting for Shang to arrive on the field. Behind them, the climbing pole cast a shadow, marking the beginning of an afternoon of challenges for her. Though if she had known that beforehand, she might have taken a hike and disappeared for the day.
The first challenge, as it was, started when Shang showed up, in his usual training outfit. That is to say, with nothing more than a simple robe, he was shirtless.
Mulan, having seen him coming, rounded off the warm up, and turned to face him. A blush sprinkled across her cheeks as she took in the sight of him walking towards her, and had to remind herself not to ogle at all today. It wouldn't do to out her secret as a woman just cause her general preferred to train that way. From behind her rose grumbles, coming from Yao, mumbling about 'the general still not being able to keep his shirt on'. She rolled her eyes as she raised her hand, waving Shang over.
"General, glad to have you join us. Would you like to take ahold of today's training?"
Shang, glancing towards the anxious men, took off his robe, laying it over the barrel of sparring staffs. "Yes I would Captain. I was thinking we'd start with that," as he gestured towards the intimidating pole that towered over them all. "Do you still have strength and discipline?"
Realizing he was talking about the weights that hung from the pole, she smirked, and turned to the troops standing at attention. "Alright boys, I need a volunteer! Someone who'd like to demonstrate their determination and intelligence for the general."
She watched as they started shuffling, none wanting to stick their neck out and be picked.
She took notice of Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po, all looking at the pole, then at the captain and the general. Out of everyone there, Ping had been the only they'd seen climb it, although they all assumed the general had at some point as well. This had been the one thing Mulan had done, that none of the rest of them ever quite managed in training.
She watched Ling set his shoulders, and walk to the front. He held out his hands as the general's clear voice rang out, explaining what was going on as Mulan took the weights from the pole.
"Ling has offered to take the first try of this. Let's see if he's successful." He lifted up one weight. "This is discipline," he said loudly, sliding it onto Ling's hand and holding up the other. "This is strength. You need both to reach the top."
To Ling's credit, he managed a good hold on the weights, with no teetering over or dropping them on his feet. His face flashed with a mix of emotions. Regret, determination, and questioning.
"Uhh, general, maybe this would be easier with a sash or robe? You know, like how we did it at the castle?"
Mulan perked her head up. At the castle? Was that how they'd got in? They must have seen her then, and copied her. She kept her eyes trained, watching as Shang shook his head.
"No, Ling, this is not an exercise we will be shortcutting at the moment. If you'd like, you can give someone else a try."
Ling seemed to decide to try, attempting to link them, as they had been when Mulan climbed the pole, all those months ago. He didn't succeed, eventually dropping the weights in frustration.
Next was Yao, who appeared to completely forget the first time he faced the pole. Weights on his wrists, scrambling up his new adversary, he looked convinced it would work. He found himself overcome, trying to latch on as he slid down. He discovered the taste of dirt in a new way.
Chien-Po passed on trying and one by one the other soldiers had a go, and one by one they all made a mad dash for the top, before failing in creative ways.
Mulan watched as the last of her men attempted the challenge, and found herself slightly disappointed when none could do it. She supposed this was something like how Shang felt, watching them all fail at it too. So caught up on this thought, she failed to notice Shang calling her.
"Ping!" A hand clapped on her shoulder, and she jumped like a startled bird. "Ping are you alright?"
She recovered quickly, shaking her hand at him, attempting a smile. "Sorry general, just lost in thought. What was that you said?"
Shang lifted up his hand, the weights dangling from them, with a small smile dancing on his lips. "I asked if you'd like to show your troops how it's done."
She looked from the weights to his face, a smile of her own coming to her face as she picked up a bow and arrow, offering it to the general.
"Would you do the honors?" she asked, trading the bow and arrow with the weights from his hand. His smile grew and he walked a little ways away as she adjusted the weights around her wrists and took a stance by the pole, watching him.
He put the arrow to the bow, taking aim, and she watched him as he did, her mouth suddenly dry as her cheeks warmed to the blush now decorating them. She knew at that moment that this day was going to be harder than she thought.
He let the arrow fly and they all watched as it stuck in the top of the pole. She took a breath, flinging the weights around the pole, and feeling them hook around each other.
Blocking out Ling's exclamation of "No fair!", she began to hoist herself up quickly and steadily, her muscles pulling her up with ease and power. A minute passed and she was already quite a way up the pole. She could hear the conversations increase below her as she kept on steadily climbing, keeping nothing but the arrow in her line of vision. A few more minutes of solid dedication and focus and she was soon at the top, relieving her wrists of the weights, and throwing down the arrow amidst the cheers and hollers of the men below.
Her heart pounded from exertion and with happiness as she gazed down at her soldiers. Her eyes drifted to look at Shang, who was standing, arms crossed, looking up at her with a proud look.
Her heart beat a little faster and her face glowed a little redder, but having just undertaken the pole, she wrote it off as adrenaline.
She was about to make her way down when something caught her eye.
