Oh boy guys!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

A family member just had surgery and is not allowed to move for a while. The next couple of months, updates are gonna definitely be two weeks apart instead of one, while I help out. Once they are up and moving adequately, updates will go to one week!

Love y'all and enjoy!

*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 4:

Off to the left of her, with the sun bearing down on everything, something was in the forest, something metal, that the sun was reflecting off of.

To her knowledge, nothing metal existed in the forest by the camp.

Atop the pole, Mulan schooled her face and started to prepare for the climb down the pole, keeping that particular tree within the corner of her eye, watching as she went down.

It glinted again, and this time the tree moved.

She kept moving down the pole, and when she was halfway down, she looked at the tree again. Only to see the head of a man, his head covered with a helmet that was definitely not of chinese make. She paused for a second, the revelation sending a shock through her. She was so distracted, she misplaced her next step, knocking her face into the pole and completing her journey down.

Her slam into the ground was accompanied by shouts and she heard running footsteps over the slight whine in her ears. Her body trembled with pain and shock at having met the ground so abruptly.

"Is he okay?"

"Did the captain just fall?"

Chief among the voices crowding around and asking questions, was Shang, asking "Ping, are you alright?" as he hovered over her, concern etched on his face. Someone slipped the weights off her wrists so she could sit up with his assistance, her eyes closing as her head started to pound from her head slam, and her legs, which had taken the brunt of impact, were none too happy about being moved. A voice right beside her rang out, sending someone to go get the camp physician.

"Ping are you alright? What happened?" Shang's low voice reached her again and she opened her eyes, head swimming as she made out Shang in front of her, his hand on her shoulder holding her steady as she sat against the pole and his face etched with concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay, my body just hurts a little." She chuckled, trying to play it off. Relief lit up his face and his grip on her shoulder tightened slightly.

"Well the camp physician should be on his way." He looked up at her forehead, his face flashing in concern again and he reached up and swiped at something on her forehead. His hand looked wet as he withdrew it.

Absent-mindedly, she reached up to her forehead herself, and pulled her fingers back, drops of blood running down her fingers from above her brow. Her slam into the wood must have given her more than a pulsing headache and she hadn't noticed.

Oh well. What was more pressing than her current injuries was the man in the trees. She didn't have time for everyone to gather around and wait for the physician. She started to move, using the pole for help behind her to stand up. Protest came from Shang who put both hands on his shoulders.

"Ping, what are you doing?" The question held confusion and she refrained from rolling her eyes. She decided not to mention what she'd seen in the tree, not wanting to tip off the man. Also she was getting decidedly closer to passing out.

The man could wait for now, she decided.

"Well I'm not waiting for the camp physician to get here. I'm gonna go get my visit with that cynic over with. Do you mind giving a hand?" She retorted.

Shang complied, though seeming a little unsure, but still putting her arm over his shoulders and his arm around her waist, holding her up as he turned to address the soldiers.

"Men, you are dismissed. We will not continue training for the day, and you have some leisure time to yourselves. Use it wisely."

He turned away and started walking with Mulan hanging from him like a rag doll.

None of them noticed the moving trees swaying from a non existent wind and a shadow creeping along, following the movement of Shang and Mulan.

...

Mulan's head was killing her. As much as she had told Shang she was fine, she had a mean headache and the rest of her body wasn't feeling too great. Staring up at the ceiling of the tent wasn't boding well for her patience either, as she listened to the man catalogue her injuries as he bound her head and instructed her on her recovery process.

Though she knew she was injured, she thought it wasn't the worst she'd had it. And even though she knew it was his job, she still couldn't help but feel a little bit of resentment with how thorough the physician was being.

"And Captain Ping, given the state of your head, though not too severe, I would suggest lying down for the rest of the day, and probably tomorrow as well." His nasally statement prompted her to clench her jaw and close her eyes, so as not to argue with him. He was probably trying his best to deliver the recovery news lightly. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Hearing a quiet chuckle to her side, she opened an eye long enough to glare at Shang, who subdued the humourous smile on face.

"General if I could speak to you for a moment in private, outside the tent perhaps, while we leave the uh... captain to rest?"

For the second time that day, panic shot up her spine, as her eyes popped open to see Shang shooting her a smile over his shoulder as he walked out, following the physician out.

Did he notice something? Maybe Mulan hadn't bound her chest tight enough that morning and he saw and was now outing her to Shang?!

She rose up and crept close to the tent flap, listening intently.

"Um yes, well you see general, as a military doctor, I just don't think we are compensated enough for our efforts to keep you reckless soldiers alive. Now, - "

Mulan breathed a sigh of relief as poor Shang started to get his ear talked off by the short man, who had apparently had this speech prepared for some time by the sounds of it.

Laughing quietly to herself, she proceeded to lie back down on the cot.

Her head really was killing her. She could probably do with a nap.

Life as a captain hadn't left room for her favourite hobby of sleeping in. Even though it was for recoveries sake, taking a nap sounded really nice.

She tugged at the blanket covering her, pulling it up to her chin. Heaving a deep breath, she let her eyes close as she forced herself to relax and drift off to sleep.

When she awoke, the tent had taken on a slight chill, and the weight of another blanket slowly brought her to reality.

Opening her eyes, she saw that it was night. She groaned, realizing her little nap had probably lasted for more than a few hours.

Getting ready to sit up, she paused as Mushu's annoyed face appeared, looking down at her.

"Now I was going to give you a butt kicking for throwing me from the tent, but it looks like pretty boy already did that for me! I might still just though, for your sheer au-da-ci-ty! To throw me from the tent! I mean, I was doing you a favour and you-!"

Mulan groaned, putting her hand over her eyes in an attempt to block him out, but having nothing to cover her ears with. Her anger over this morning's incident gone, she found herself now getting annoyed that her dragon guardian was yelling in her ear.

"Mushu!" She clamped her fingers around his mouth and muffled his complaints. "If you could manage, to be. Just. A little. Quieter. I would be very grateful."

Mushu looked cross eyed at her fingers covering his mouth and then at her, and tried to speak again. She resigned herself to the verbal slaughter.

As she was about to relinquish her hearing, rustling noises came from the back of the tent. What sounded like someone moving.

Then she remembered the man in the tree!

From behind her again, a twig snapped, and then there was quiet. Mushu stopped trying to get her fingers off his mouth and his ears perked up, his eyes trained on Mulan's face as she let go, and quietly got up.

Gratefully seeing a sword on the wall, she took it down and quietly removed the sheath. Going to the back of the tent, she heard footsteps stop, from what sounded like right beside her. She held her breath as a knife appeared and started quietly ripping through the fabric with ease, all the way to the bottom. A hand appeared and as soon as it did, Mulan grabbed it and pulled at whoever it was.

A man came through from the other side, tripping over her feet, and she moved on him as he fell. He somersaulted away, and her sword swing nicked his leg as he moved. He didn't flinch.

Planting his feet solidly on the ground, he threw a small dagger at her. She leapt to the side, her head swimming again as she moved quickly, swinging her leg up, landing a kick to his head. He stumbled back into a nearby cabinet and she lunged to grab him but he dodged, grabbing her bun as she fell, yanking her head back.

Great! Now her headache was back full force! And where was Shang?! All this commotion would have drawn his attention by now! Or someone's! Which meant everyone was out of earshot and she was on her own.

The assailant tried to bring his knife to her throat but she blocked it with her right forearm, the knife cutting down her skin and she yelled in pain. Blindly shooting her hand out, she grabbed a jar from the top of the cabinet and smashed it into his head.

He went stumbling back, taking her ribbon with him. All her hair fell in her eyes as she rolled away and leapt up, turning to face him.

Her stunt with the jar had bought her precious seconds, to find another jar and throw it at him. The first jar had worked so well, this one might work too.

In the dim light of the tent, she didn't really look at what she was grabbing. She threw the first thing her fingers wrapped around, belatedly realizing it was much too soft to be a jar, and was in fact a roll of bandaging that bounced harmlessly off him.

He jeered at her, throwing another dagger at her, somewhere from thin air. Deflecting it with her sword, she missed seeing him lunge at her, catching her around the middle and propelling them towards the entrance. She yelled again as she hit her head on the ground.

Seriously, was there no one around to hear the fight and help?!

He sat on top of her, grabbed her hair again and pulled out another dagger. Seriously, where was he getting all of these? She reached up and gripped the hand with the dagger, using her other hand to punch him in the eye. Tearing it from his grasp, she plunged the dagger into his leg.

Screaming, he jumped off of her to clutch his thigh. She slammed her fist into his face and he stumbled outside the tent. She followed, wielding her sword.

It seemed the commotion had finally been heard as she saw outlines of soldiers running to the tent. Her ears picked out Shang's voice from the commotion. He was yelling her name.

But her main focus was on the man who was gripping his wound, trying to crawl away from her.

She kicked the dagger from his thigh, and he screamed again. Leaping on top of him with her knees pinning his arms down, she put her sword across his throat, the blood from her arm running down the hilt onto the blade.

The nearby fire reflected off of it, highlighting the pained face of the man below her.

Rage filled in her, but she kept a stoic exterior, breathing heavy breaths, staying calm. Her hair was a curtain, creating tunnel vision as she locked eyes with him. A look crossed his face as she applied pressure to his throat and she felt him shudder.

Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she finally spat out a quiet question. "Who are you?"