A Chaotic March

Mulan is nervous.

She got a pill from Beiyue for strong bones as she got enough muscle on her skinny arms and legs, and Beiyue magicked away her fat from 'the wrong places' and put them 'where they're useful at'. Maybe next time she won't fail the matchmaking?

Matchmaking.

That, was horrible!

She was deemed 'Too skinny!'

'Too skinny for your age is bad while we kids can get away with that.' Beiyue would tell her during baths. 'Because a lady needs all her beauty assets to win over a man. Face and lady figure and you've got no shape! What're you eating for the past few years and Mushu said you're a wealthy girl?' in short, she's er, flat and no curves! Even a 14 year old has more shape than she does!

Then there's rules all women must know...she disdained those ideas and would rather they not exist, but that Matchmaker Lady made her recite the Final Admonition...she barely passed as she was lucky she wrote that on her arm...

Gracefully pouring tea...well, she got distracted when the ink on her arm got on the woman's hands and mistakenly drew a hilarious beard on her fat face...and because of Cri Kee, that ended in disaster!

'Gee, where I'm from, Matchmaking doesn't work that way.' Beiyue found the session disdainful as she had. 'In our place, we have portraits of ladies in a gallery. Names and skills of the lady in question as well as background were put on for display...and then men who likes that girl vies for her from the Matchmaker. Then there's a meeting and girl demonstrates the skills she is said to have. So its impossible to lie. If you were found deceitful, kiss your reputation goodbye.'

'Eep...'

And the more accomplishments, the better while in Mulan's country...not much expectations to be had, is there?

Now, she has shape and gained 'some meat'. Magic had to be used to hide her new assets...and now, there's an order to march.

"I can do this! For father!" she swore in determination.

xxx

The men were singing as they marched on after breakfast and packing up. Beiyue was made to ride on a horse and she even has an umbrella on herself as she's supposed to be a weak, frail maiden she should be, which annoyed her.

For a long time we've been
Marching off to battle... the soldiers sang. Once in a while, they sing a song of motivation just to keep going.

However, today, the song...changed a little.

In our thundering herd we
feel a lot like cattle! Yao snarkily added his own lyrics in.

Like the pounding beat
our aching feet aren't
easy to ignore!

Hey, think of instead,
a girl worth fighting for! Ling grabbed his buddies Yao and Chien Po cheerfully.

'...Huh?' Mulan blinked owlishly before Ling wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

That's what I said! A girl worth fighting for~! he took out a portrait of his ideal lady:

I want her paler than the
Moon with eyes that
shine like stars...

My girl will marvel at
my strength, adore my
battle scars... that, was Yao's ideal...

I couldn't care less what she'll
wear or what she looks like!
It all depends on what she cooks like!
Beef, pork, chicken, mmm~! that, was Chien Po's ideal bride.

'So genius boys, what's your ideal bride?!' Ling asked the 'Wei brothers', each of his skinny arms around their shoulders. Riku, Sora and Mulan were the 'star students' of the camp.

'Ahahaha, an ideal girl would be she is as cute as she is sweet, spirit and smile as bright as the sun to come home to after a tough day at work!' Sora sang with a blush, thinking of Kairi.

'Well, I know a girl back home who has her eyes on me, so sweet, lovely and thoughtful and always has my back at every turn!' Beiyue glowed bright red as to hit it home, HE looked at her!

'I already got a lady wife at home unlike you sorry ding-dongs!' Donald sang smugly, earning him dirty looks as he took out a bamboo portrait of Daisy he had to magick into wearing a dress similar to Beiyue's but in pink. 'Her hair so soft and silky, her eyes sparkle like clear water and a maiden at heart~!'

'Sadly me still so single, I'm still searching for a perfect match!' Goofy lamented before perking up. 'I hope she's fun and bright company bringing lots of laughs!'

Bet the local girls thought
You were quite the charmer! Yao snarked.

And I'll bet the ladies love
A man in armor! said Ling playfully, his suit full of water because they walked through a river, forcing Beiyue to stand on Mulan's horse to avoid getting wet and her friends supporting her using sticks she held onto so she can stand perfectly, even though she's perfectly balanced on her own but they had a facade to maintain. And when Ling flexed, all that water came out, his 'fake muscles' draining out of his suit!

You can guess what we
Have missed the most
Since we went off to war

What do we want?
A girl worth fighting for

My girl will think I have no faults, Yao snipped.

That I'm a major find, Chien Po joked.

'How 'bout a girl who's got a brain who always speaks her mind?' Mulan chipped in and the guys all blew her off, 'NAH!' apparently, girls cannot outdo men, ever and no cheekiness either...

My manly ways and turn of
Phrase are sure to thrill her! Ling sang passionately.

He thinks he's such a lady killer! Yao scoffed, tripping Ling onto the road.

I've a girl back home
who's unlike any other... Chi Fu bragged smugly.

Yet the only girl who'd
love him is his mother! Yao snarked, earning him a dirty look from the counselor.

But when we come home
In victory they'll line up
At the door!

What do we want? Ling called out,

A girl worth fighting for!

Wish that I had! Ling called out.

A girl worth fighting for!

A girl worth fighting...

The mood was killed at the sight of a burned, razed village.

'Good grief, I think that order came too late...' Sora exclaimed as Mushu was gobsmacked. He faked the so-called order from the General and they came to this? Had he known better...! He was shaken and mortified. While Beiyue was right that Mulan needed time to get stronger to maintain her cover, he wished the damn so-called elite army overcame their stupid pride and sent orders earlier. Now a whole village paid for that.

'Yeah, way too late.' Beiyue shook her head. 'Had they called earlier, things may be different.'

'Search for survivors!' Shang ordered as they all scattered in hopes of at least, one survivor even though it's obvious there's none. They found a battlefield of corpses, and Chien Po gave a unique helmet to Sheng, saying,

'The General...' Sheng gratefully took the helmet somberly, then took a stick to prop up the helmet by a shallow cliff side.

Mulan tried to go to Sheng to give him sympathy, but Riku held her back and shook his head.

'Stuff like that are private. Don't.'

'But...'

'Really, don't. Let him mourn for his father on his own.' Riku told her. 'He won't appreciate anyone in that level of private time.' Mulan deflated.

'Right...' Sheng, after praying enough, got back on his horse.

'The Huns are moving quickly,' he said, 'The quickest way to the capital...huh?!' a lot of Heartless showed up and Donald acted quickly by making the men see the Huns instead come out of the snow! 'ATTAAAACK!' he cried in rage, still reeling from his father's loss as the soldiers fought on the Heartless.

'Eek!' the Counselor shrieked as the men fended off the heartless, while he is perfectly safe with Beiyue as the 'huns', never went to them. 'Well I'll be! From little boys to actual reliable soldiers!' he exclaimed as the men fought off the Heartless well.

'They were lying in wait!' Li Sheng swore angrily. 'We need to hurry! We'll head to the Emperor through the Tung Shao pass! We're the only hope now for China! We better move it!'

'Psst, Mushu.' Sora hissed inside the wagon.

'What is it Sora?' Mushu asked Sora.

'Go to Mulan. If you sneeze in a wagon full of our cannons, we'll be in trouble.' said Sora. 'We can't afford attracting the Huns.'

'Riiiight...' Mushu slunk off to Mulan into her armor. He could agree with the logic being a fire-shooter...

Cue a rain of arrows later!

'GET OUT OF RAAAANGE!' Li Sheng yelled as everyone ducked for cover, before ordering cannon fire. Donald was highly alert incase he needed to cover up again...and there's a massive number this time!

'Holy smokes!' Sora gasped.

Alongside the REAL Huns shooting arrows at them, there's also a crap ton of Heartless, with three powerful leaders!

'That's a lot of 'huns'!' Riku swore snidely as he and Sora took out their Keyblades. He indeed has one, and it resembled his old Soul Eater sword, but with an added angel wing where the teeth should be.

One night during off time after dinner, Riku showed his newborn keyblade to her when they have a private time together.

'I call it 'Way to Dawn'.' he told her as he let her hold it. Due to her strong heart, she can actually hold it, but she wasn't mature enough to forge her own yet. 'That after the darkness of despair, there's always a road to light ahead. Its what my soul looks like.'

'You've got a very mature soul at that.' Beiyue smiled appreciatively. 'You understand that the world isn't always black and white. That everything has a balance. You represent it real well...that you're the smartest among us all regarding that matter, unlike our enemies.'

'Right?'

For Beiyue, call her biased, but she finds Riku's keyblade beautiful.

However, that wasn't the real kicker...

Shan Yu himself showed up...and how many the real Hun Army is which explains why General Li's elites fell.

Even Li Sheng knew the situation was hopeless.

'Prepare to fight.' he told his men who unsheathed their swords, his expression pained due to how bleak the situation was. 'If we die, we die with honor!'

As the Huns charged for the kill, Sheng instructed Yao to shoot the cannon at Shan Yu.

'Forget that Captain, that cannon will miss given the speed of the horse and the time the cannon will reach him. It's a waste of the last cannon.' Beiyue advised. 'Ping, you look like you have an idea.' she glanced at Mulan with a meaningful smile who was looking at a particular spot in the mountains.

'Why's he lookin' there for, there's nothing there!' Yao pointed out as Mulan took the cannon from him.

'Hey?!' Sheng sputtered as Mulan took off with the cannon and seemingly ran for 'his' suicide fight, prompting Sora and Riku to run after her for support.

'This tactic is called, 'death by freezing'. More powerful than a single firework, no?' Beiyue smiled darkly, sending Bing in his mini-size mode subtly to add more snow and cold to the avalanche with his power and time it right with Mulan's tactic. Sheng realized what the two girls were up to. The plan was on the fly, but given circumstances, it's their deadliest weapon of all!

'Time it right, Ping...' he said anxiously as this could be what saves them from a pointless death. 'Beiyue, send word to the men. If Ping pulls this off, we run like hell for cover!'

'Right!' Beiyue ran and whispered the plan to the soldiers who braced themselves.

Mulan fired off the firework and supported by Bing, loosened up the pack of snow from a mountainside, before making it deathly cold impossible to survive from and poured in more snow. Mulan was protected by the boys from Shan Yu himself, before all of them are forced to run from mother nature itself.

'Riku, ya got some Earth moves? This looks really bad?' Sora said, sweatdropping bullets.

'Forget that, we run first! Those rocks should give us cover!' Riku quickly spotted some rocks to hide behind in. 'And let's cheat a little with magic, yeah? This is too much, even for us!'

'I agree! You can count on me for that, boys!' said Donald, rousing a nice, strong hiding place for all of them to hide in from afar. 'This way, hurry!' their troop and one horse hid at the shelter Donald conjured up.

'Make sure nobody ELSE gets here.' said Sheng as they all ducked for cover behind the rock that was 'conveniently there'. 'Any outsider trying to sneak in here, poke them out!'

The avalanche took a good long hour...

'...that sure is a lot of snow...' Ling whistled as so much snow is pouring out down to the steep cliffs below. 'I think Ping aimed at a really good spot!'

'More like, I underestimated where I aimed at.' Mulan shuddered. 'I think my improvised weapon is a little TOO strong...'

'No complaints now, all I care is we're alive!' Chi Fu shrieked as Beiyue is in contact with Bing.

Well?

I feel no more life signs in the deluge. I'll stop now. so Bing stopped the flow of snow. It took five minutes to stop and he stopped his spell on the snow.

Once it's over...they could safely come out.

'OOOOK...well, one cannon did the trick!' said Goofy. 'We can head for the Capital right now, right, captain?'

'Yeah, we can now.' said Sheng in relief. 'We got real lucky. Wish I can say the same for those who came before us, Goofy.' said Sheng somberly. 'At least China is saved...through one hare-brained idea and a great dose of luck!' he exclaimed. He doubted even with the snow, the Huns will survive the fall.

The soldiers continued their journey home after making triple-sure there are no survivors as Sheng was paranoid.

The trip to the capital was jovial, spirits lifted as nobody among them died. The men sang their song again.

Though Mulan was nervous with coming home...

...because Hua Ping didn't exist in the first place, and consulted her friends for help.

'Well, we pull the Guardian Trick.' said Beiyue. 'I'll have my Guardian come out, disguised as a phoenix. Now what to say to the Emperor because Mulan's case is unorthodox in this world...?'

This was a battle Mulan must face on her own, to avoid capital punishment.

She had gone with Sheng and Chi Fu because she played a key role in their victory, her being a woman will be shocking!

xxx

Outside the Palace...

The gang waited by the stair steps.

'This world is different from Beiyue's, unfair towards women...I hope Mulan will be OK.' said Sora, worried for Mulan.

'She will be if we pull the divine entity schtick off as we planned.' said Donald. 'She'll be OK. In a culture like this, nobody's gonna anger a phoenix!'

'Yeah. They'd be stupid to!' Sora grinned. Mushu will pull the flames Bing can't do because he's an ice phoenix.

They're still anxious...soon, Mulan came out with Sheng. Sheng looked like he was shocked he was in a daze. Mulan looked sheepish as Bing flew out and vanished 'in flames'. Mushu covered for him real well.

'How'd it go?' Riku asked them.

'You kids knew?' Sheng blurted incredulously.

'Hey, she joins me for baths, of course we'd know.' Beiyue shrugged. 'So what does his majesty think, that women can also be as good as men?'

'Well, he said he'll think about it.' said Mulan. 'I got quite the scolding when I revealed myself, and why, though.'

You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army...and you saved us all.

Were his words.

'Huang spoke up for me when the counselor got a little snarky.' said Mulan. 'Threatened to eat him, even. He screamed like a little girl.' she giggled.

'Well, this girl survived the arduous training and one of my top students, so there are things to be considered.' said Sheng, doing an armfold. 'It takes a certain mentality. So not all girls can be like Mulan, or like Beiyue who's as cool as cucumber when death is so close.' he said as a child tag along never even panicked when the Huns were among them, and served the army well as a cook and cleaner and endured a difficult march. 'So that's not a law that can be passed any day soon, but his majesty thinks a woman's life should be given some ease. But we have no idea where to even start as even his majesty grew into such a culture as well as did his forefathers.'

Mulan hated a girl's lot in life in China.

She wanted to excel in where she feels she's good at in, and have a lot more freedom instead of the lot in life most women are condemned to, and how far she'll go for her family even risking her own punishment for two major crimes.

'Well, I know where to start~' Beiyue grinned. 'Since it's Mulan doing the talking~ I'll teach you both on how things should be!'

Sheng discovered how like-minded the two were, only, Beiyue was the more cunning of the pair as she actually knows what to go for, while Mulan knows in her heart what she wanted, but had no way to express it in words.

'Well, all's well that ends well.' said Sora. 'This world is clean of Heartless, let's find the keyhole and go for the next world!'

'Right! It should be somewhere here...' they roamed the palace, and found the keyhole.

xxx

'I'm glad to be out of those baggy outfits!' said Riku as back to normal clothes they go. 'How on earth can your culture deal with this? Even men wear dresses!' he exclaimed.

'Beats me, been that way all my life.' said Beiyue with a shrug. 'Its a novelty seeing men in shorts or trousers and I still have yet to get used to it.'

'Where to next guys?' Sora asked the Chipmunks.

'Let's see...it's a...castle?' Chip piped up. 'Let's go there!' and they sailed into the cosmos to go to that world...before the ship shook.

'Whoaaaa?!'

In her possession, Beiyue's Black Jade was reacting. She suppressed it with her shadows and the shaking stopped.

'W-what's with that?' Sora asked shakily as the culprit was something in Beiyue's possession.

'Someone is calling out to this thing Dongling gave me for safekeeping...I was gonna ask Master about this but he wasn't home! Merlin wasn't home in Hollow Bastion either so I was holding onto this until then!' "But who?!"

'I think we should land in that castle soon.' Dale whimpered. 'Can you keep suppressing that object, Beiyue?'

'Easy peasy!'

xxx

"...disconnected...?" a person with long white hair and black robes frowned.

xxx

In a castle, the gardens...

'So Dongling gave you this black rock thing...it's clearly magical if it nearly wrecked our ship.' Sora commented as the gang eyed the Jade on the ground.

'Dongling says it possesses incredible energy.' said Beiyue. 'She found it while doing jobs, and kept it. But now that she founded an Orphanage, she feels scared keeping it around kids and gave it to me.' she explained, flipping the jade like she would a coin before snatching it mid-air. 'She can access the energy within, but barred from all else, so...guys?'

'On it.' Riku took out his keyblade, and unlocked it. 'There. We can use it now. But you go first.'

'Right.' Beiyue dove into the realm of the jade. A large pool of power aside, there was a lot of spells and knowledge regarding Spirit Beasts and magical spells within. So she fused the Jade to herself for further restraint and used her own blood to lock it, considering WHO the previous owner was! Her real father! 'Gah! It was tough, but I reeled it in!' she reassured them. 'It won't cause us problems again!' she promised them.

'That's good to hear, we can't afford to crash our ship in the cosmos or it'll be an impromptu Dark Corridor Travel.' said Riku.

'What's it like? That Dark Corridor thingy?' Sora asked them. 'It's how you get around, right?'

'For Light Residents like us, it drains a bit of our light and life force each use.' said Riku. 'Even if just as passengers, it still drains even if you're not the caster. Only Beiyue can getaway scott-free and she's always temporarily powerful within darkness.'

'And I weaken in the Realm of Light.' Beiyue quipped. 'The Realm of Light is my Limiter as a whole so I don't hurt anyone simply by existing and I stay human.'

'Heee...' Sora whistled.

'At any rate, we better explore this place.' said Beiyue as Riku looked rather morose. 'Riku?'

'I...know this place.' he admitted, still sorry about it. 'I kidnapped Belle from here under Maleficent's orders and uhm, had Heartless eat this place on her orders.'

'Ah...so it's Beast's world.' Sora croaked out, and Riku can only nod. His friends became bad guy lackeys to find Kairi easier and save her quicker because Kairi wouldn't wake up...and when he asked why when they all had free time?

'Bad guys always have a lot of resources and connections, it makes perfect sense.' Beiyue deadpanned back at camp. So with that kinda logic...he shuddered. He wondered if he can even DO what they did...

He didn't wanna think about it.