Hey everyone!
Shorter chapter than usual today, but it's full of action to make up for it!
Note to everyone who's been reading with me so far: Chapter Seven is going to contain non-explicit rape. There will be a more in-depth explanation of why it's necessary in the author's note in the chapter, but I want to let you all know that this is NOT romance. There is only one line of description and according to my beta, Duesal10, it completely fits with Fanfiction's rating of M. It is NECESSARY TO THE STORY, but I tried to make it as easy to swallow as possible given it's subject matter.
Again, more in-depth analyzing of it next chapter. All I'm asking is that you do not flame me because I WILL block you. I'm tired of flames and went out of my way to make this story as fun to read as possible.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
Mulan left Alba's home a little later than originally planned—around sunset. Before leaving, Mulan had mustered up the courage to ask Alba how she could repay her kindness. The old woman had simply said, "Make the right decisions and save China."
Right. Save China. No big deal, really. Right? Right.
Rauul had animated again in order to say goodbye and as it turned out, Mushu and Rauul really were a lot alike, as Alba had said. The only difference between them—and Mulan would never tell her dragon guardian this—was that Rauul was intimidating while Mushu was…not.
Mulan's new clothing was, in a word, manly—just as she wanted it. Fitted pants made out of beige silk and a red and black changshan were the outer layers, but Alba had gone so far as to wrap Mulan's bindings in a different way that completely hid her already-small breasts. In fact, with her hair up and a pair of generic shoes for travel—Alba hadn't told Mulan where she'd gotten these, but they fit just fine—Mulan looked about as masculine as she could hope to get in this lifetime, short of cutting off all her hair.
Mulan might be posing as a man, but she wasn't going to completely cut off all her hair. She would be a woman again someday…well, maybe. At this point, she didn't plan on marrying ever, so perhaps she would never need to reveal her true gender.
All thoughts for another day.
With the new rations attached to Nishu's saddle and full from dinner, Mulan, Mushu, and Cri-kee were on the road again.
Alba had told them of a village not too far from where they were that would be a good place to start recruiting men to rebel—or, as Alba preferred, to blend in as a wandering swordsman. Of course, not having a sword was something of a problem, but the older woman had assured her that the blacksmith had no children and might allow her to work for him in exchange for crafting her a blade. It was worth a shot, so Mulan went off in that direction.
The night was warm, but thankfully not hot, and made for very good traveling weather. Mushu had made a makeshift torch along the way using some of the silk leftover from the Hun who'd previously ridden Nishu and it helped to guide the way as the moon was waning. Alba had said the trip would only take about a day and a half, so Mulan planned for three days to get sufficient rest. Her rations would last her a while, hopefully long enough to be of use once she got to the village.
It was not long since they'd left—the sun had set about three hours' past, making it just late enough for it to be pitch black, when there was the loud screeching of a hawk from overhead.
Mulan immediately pulled Nishu to a halt. "What was that?" she hissed, keeping her voice low by default in the darkness. Even the torch's light did not go too far, only enough to see what was just directly ahead.
"That was a hawk," Mushu whispered back. "Odd…"
"What?" Mulan said urgently. A good, potent dose of fear shot viciously down her spine. Something about this was not right…
Cri-kee chirped just as Mushu was about to speak.
"I know that!" Mushu said loudly back to Cri-kee and Mulan shushed him instantly. There was a low rumbling coming not far from them. Something strangely like…
Hoof beats?
Mushu didn't seem to notice, continuing on casually, "Hawks don't normally fly at night. It's more of a daytime kind of-HEY!"
Mulan jammed her heels into Nishu's flanks, abruptly wheeling him around and in the opposite direction of the oncoming traveler and taking off at the fastest pace possible.
"Now what was that all about?" Mushu shouted loudly in order to be heard over the running horse.
"Shan Yu has a trained hawk. Listen," Mulan told him breathlessly as she spurred Nishu on faster.
Mushu quickly caught on to what was going on—the neighing of a nearing horse who was not Nishu helping him realize the gravity of the situation all the faster—and he and Cri-kee immediately dove to safety, hiding in the largest empty pouch.
Mulan focused entirely on getting away from Shan Yu. However, her mind raced beyond just escape. She knew that Huns were primarily hunters, always eating wild deer and rabbits and goats, so they knew better than to charge up to prey loudly and give away their position. Why would Shan Yu do that if he was truly looking for her?
It was possible that it wasn't Shan Yu, but then why the screeching hawk? Beyond that, if it was Shan Yu, why would he allow his hawk to put her on the alert?
From what Alba had told her, where she lived was truly in the middle of nowhere. There were no major roads, or roads at all, within a mile from her home. There was no reason for anyone to be out here in the middle of the woods, charging in her direction, except for someone who was looking for her. The only person who had any reason to be looking for her was Shan Yu.
But Shan Yu knew better than to basically tell her where he was like he had! It didn't make any-
Oh.
He wanted a chase; a hunt.
The bastard was so certain that he would capture her that he'd risked giving away his position and purposely let her know he was coming because he wanted her to run. He wanted to hunt her down, make her afraid.
Well, he'd succeeded in frightening her. However, he would not succeed in capturing her. He had been arrogant before and it had cost him his army; now, the stakes were much less, but his arrogance would once again be his undoing.
"Mushu," Mulan hissed.
The red dragon's head popped out of the pouch. "Yeah?"
"I'm going to get off the horse and go in a different direction," she said, as quietly as possible while still being heard. "I need you to stay back and keep running the horse the same way I've been going."
"Oh no, I am NOT leaving you, babygirl-"
"I have to throw him off my tracks," she replied, her panic growing as Nishu began to tire. "I'll leave a trail for you to follow…it'll be rocks. Once you see Shan Yu, turn the Nishu off and sending him running as fast as possible. Then come find me."
Mushu blinked several times, apparently having trouble processing what was going on.
"Mushu! Now!"
"WHAT?"he exclaimed, but Mulan was already rolling off the horse, falling hard to the ground, and then darting off into the underbrush.
Mushu hesitated for only a second before picking Cri-kee up by the antennae. "You follow her, you got that?"
Cri-kee chirped and took off after Mulan, while Mushu tried to figure out how he was going to spur the horse one when he couldn't command him like Mulan did.
Soon it occurred to him. Nothing would make an animal run faster than a fire under its ass.
Shan Yu was quite disappointed when the hoof beats of the mountain soldier's horse slowed to a stop. Had she given up so easily? The hunt had barely begun…
And then he caught up to the steed and realized that there was no one manning it. A quick search of the surroundings showed no tracks other than the animal's, meaning that it had been running on its own for quite a while—in a straight line, not stopping or slowing, until just now.
It was too long to have just been slapped on the rear and sent off. Somehow, some way, this Fa Mulan had help that was not human. Shan Yu did not like not knowing an enemy's tactics and Mulan had some tactic, something on her side that was making it impossible to track her down. This was evident by the lack of human tracks anywhere near the horse—if there had been someone else, there would have been a trail.
With a short whistle he called the stolen and then abandoned horse to his side. The stallion, named Baan, trotted over slowly, still huffing and puffing from the arduous run.
He dismounted. Hayabusa swooped back down and landed gracefully on his shoulder, awaiting instruction. He sent the loyal creature back to tracking the girl and then turned to check the saddlebags.
It was as he'd thought. The old woman had helped her—the rations weren't more than a day old. There was some money in one of the pouches, which he left behind as he had no need for it. There was a long branch with burnt silk wrapped around the end—the lit torch that he given away her position. It had been put out, but why had it gone back into the saddlebag and not just dropped away? Another fire would have certainly ensured her safety.
A glance at the sky told him why. It was clear with no signs of possible rain. Even when concerned for her own safety, her own survival, she would not go to every length to protect herself—she had been afraid that if she left it on the ground, the fire she started would not be put out.
Wise, but the wrong decision. He would find her now and he would find her tonight.
Hayabusa hadn't returned yet but Shan Yu had no real need of the hawk to find his prey now. Somewhere along the way, she had gotten off the horse. Such a fall would definitely leave a mark on the ground and there would be a trail.
Mounting his horse again, he took his time following the tracks backwards until he found the crumpled bush into which she'd landed. It spoke of a controlled fall, one that soldiers were undoubtedly taught in the army to ensure no injury when hastily dismounting a horse. It had obviously been a graceful fall, once again showing the girl's skill.
She was a smart one to have sent him on a wild goose chase while she attempted to evade him. A frown marred his face as he realized he'd once again allowed his confidence to mislead him, much like at the Tung Shao Pass. Fa Mulan was a force to be reckoned with, despite her small stature and seeming harmlessness.
Against his will, a new kind of respect was borne for her. He would not make the same mistake of underestimating her again.
He dismounted his stallion and led him on foot. The tracks were faint at first, but then the strangest of all things happened.
He found a trail of rocks.
At first glance it seemed to be nothing, but the fallen rocks followed the tracks of a small human woman. Why would she be so foolish? She had to have known that-
It didn't take long to realize. She'd sent her help in the other direction, so she'd left a trail for whoever it was to follow her. That meant that her companion was sentient, but perhaps not human, given that there were no human tracks.
The Huns had always been raised to know about spiritual animals—it was believed by many that Hayabusa was one of them or at least a descendent of one. The hawk bordered on sentient, making his training much easier and much more effective than just an ordinary hawk. Shan Yu knew that the Chinese worshipped their ancestors and the animals of their zodiac, so perhaps it was possible that Mulan had a spiritual companion, a guide of sorts.
It would certainly explain how she'd evaded him, but…
This was growing more and more baffling by the moment.
Putting all disturbing thoughts aside, Shan Yu followed the trail, eventually tethering his horse to a low-hanging branch to continue on foot alone. He would not risk her running again—better for her to think she'd gotten away, that she'd fooled him, and then be caught by surprise.
She could not be given any time to formulate another plan.
The rocks slowly came closer and closer together until they ended near a stream. Upon crossing the stream they did not continue, which meant she was somewhere nearby—or that she expected him to follow her and had purposely stopped. There was also the chance that she'd heard him coming.
For a long moment he considered his next move. There were no more tracks in any direction—she'd walked in the stream, apparently.
It was then that Hayabusa conveniently returned, not landing but wheeling around in midair to lead his master to his prey. Shan Yu was confident that he would have found her eventually, but Hayabusa's excellent training and superb hunting skills helped set him apart from other Huns—because the hawk was loyal and would only respond to Shan Yu's commands. Yet another reason Hayabusa was considered more of a guardian than just an intelligent bird of prey.
He found her and he wanted to laugh aloud. The girl was haggard, her hair put up into a topknot like a typical Chinese man's, but strands had come loose as she traveled and framed her face, strangely adding to her aesthetic appeal. Her clothing was clearly masculine and her bindings were bound in such a way that she truly could pass for a fairly feminine young man. However, all of those things were not was caused him such amusement.
The girl was dead asleep, propped up against a tree.
He had clearly overestimated her stamina. It seemed she could only go so far before her body failed her. Indeed, she was truly a woman, despite her best efforts at being male. Chinese women were frail, weak; they had their uses but they would never be warriors.
The difference between Fa Mulan and the rest of her gender was that she had a brain and she used it.
Drawing his sword, he silently approached her. Standing tall above her tiny, sleeping form, he pressed the jagged blade under her chin and let its razor sharp tip draw the slightest of blood, immediately jolting her awake.
Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him and they showed delicious fear. He allowed himself a taunting smirk as he spoke.
"You won't get away from me again."
So, Shan Yu and Mulan are reunited. Next chapter is longer, and the chapter after that I plan to be the longest yet!
Thanks for reading!