Hi everyone!

New update! (But you already knew that.) Anyways, this is and will be probably the darkest chapter of the entire story. There is implied rape in this, although not described, and it's over all really depressing. My beta, Duesal10, can testify for this.

In all honesty, you can handle this chapter if you're not bothered by violence or manhandling with a slightly citrus flavor. Anyways...enjyoy!

For all of you who did not read the Author's Note:

NOTE: IMPLIED RAPE WARNING!

Mulan wasn't entirely sure what had happened after she left the stream. She'd stumbled a ways into the woods, although staying near the creek for water, and then everything went black. She knew she'd run a long ways, gathering rocks along the way to leave a trail for Mushu. She vaguely remembered telling Cri-kee to go lead Mushu back to them. Now, all she knew was that Shan Yu, her worst enemy and most hated person, was looking down at her with a sickening look of victory that she had never wanted to see on his face.

What was worse was the blade underneath her chin, close enough that he could kill her easily before she tried to escape.

She had no words for him. There was nothing to say on either end—she'd expected some kind of gloating, mocking, something, but he merely stared down at her. The smirk had faded away, leaving his lips into the slight glower that seemed to be his permanent expression unless he purposely chose otherwise.

Mulan didn't like the way he was observing her, so silently and thoughtfully. It sent a worse fear through her—she preferred him when he was expressive, showing some kind of thought process. She appreciated anything that would help her predict what was going to happen next and give her time to counteract it. At that moment he was unreadable and the young woman didn't like how vulnerable to his whims it made her. If she could not anticipate his next move then she couldn't defend herself.

Slowly, she subtly moved her hand towards her leg, where the dagger Mushu had stolen was. His wolf-like eyes caught the movement and his sword's sharp blade dug into her neck, drawing a slow but steady stream of blood. Mulan winced but proceeded to move her hand.

"Don't be foolish," he said, his voice neutral. Still no sign of what he was thinking. However, Mulan had reached her destination and pulled out the silk that had wrapped the dagger to prevent it from cutting her while she ran.

"Not trying to be," she retorted, copying his tone, as she used the silk like a handkerchief to dab at imaginary sweat on her brow.

He frowned deeply at how casual she was about it all. Mulan liked to know that he was displeased at her nonchalance, but she knew this was the end of the road. Dropping the silk to the ground, she placed her right hand back down to the ground, this time closer to her pocket. In a swift movement, the dagger was accessible without the silk to soften a blow.

"Are you going to kill me or not?" she finally demanded, growing impatient with his continued silence.

Shan Yu did not deem this worthy of an answer. "Stand."

She did so, appreciating the command. Now that she was one her feet, the playing field was slightly fairer, even though he kept her against the tree with his sword still ready to kill her at the slightest wrong move.

Mulan was surprised and strangely pleased that the thought of death was not paralyzing her with fear. In fact, she decided she preferred to die than to become one of his concubines—even if it meant China would not be saved.

It wasn't like there was nobody else who could save it, right?

This complacency brought a sense of peace. Why did she have to be the one to bear the burden of Shan Yu? Why did it all fall on her? Surely there were others who could make a difference. She was just a girl, barely a woman, and clearly the fates were out of their minds thinking that she alone could do anything to truly help in a man-favoring society.

Shan Yu interrupted her thoughts. "Walk." He gestured with the sword the direction he wanted her to go in.

Obediently, she followed his command. Something flared inside of her—disgust—at her quiet compliance with his demands, but it didn't matter. She would die soon anyway.

Rauul said their meeting would be extremely unpleasant. Mulan now understood what that meant—of course she would not be allowed to live after causing such trouble. He hadn't told her she would die in particular, but obviously Shan Yu wouldn't have time to deal with an unruly concubine while trying to rule China and the Steppes from which he came.

She would die and truth be told, she had no worries in the world because of it.

He walked her in front of him, the tip of his sword cutting slightly into the back of her neck. Running wasn't an option; he was bigger, stronger, and faster than her. At the same time, she wondered if it would speed the process of her death up, so perhaps it was worth it. Now, she almost anticipated it—she was waiting for the time to come.

And then she saw the horse tethered to a tree—the horse he'd come on. It was then she realized that he did not intend to kill her; he would take her with him back to the palace, would keep to his resolve to punish her by forcing her to live instead of letting her off the easy way.

Death was not an option anymore. However, she wouldn't be forced to live a life with Shan Yu in it, either.

She took off at top speed, gripping the dagger in her pocket and readying to cut the reins tying the horse to the tree. As she hurtled towards the horse, she was suddenly ashamed of ever thinking about giving up.

Alba hadn't told her that she was the only one who could save China, no. But she was the closest person who had come to defeating Shan Yu and chances were, she couldn't trust anyone else to outsmart him.

Shan Yu had told her not to be foolish. Unfortunately, she had been foolish in her own right—by thinking she could possibly give up on defeating him.

This wasn't about her. This was about China, her home, her family.

And Mushu. How disappointed would he be in her that she had given up, even for a second? No, she would never give up again.

She cut the horse free, but the moment it was free there was a high-pitched whistle and it reared, forcing her to evade the flying hooves that could kill her in a single hit. In her desperation to live, she fell away from the rearing horse and landed hard on the ground. Shan Yu then arrived and the horse calmed.

The blade was at her neck before she could move again, even though the dagger was in her hand still, gripped tightly.

"I told you not to be foolish. Ruyun is a Hun horse and he is mine; he will never obey another master. Especially not a fool like you."

Mulan glared up at him and he smirked, seemingly pleased.

"I am done underestimating you, girl. You will not receive another opportunity to cause me any trouble."

"So then what now?" she spat. "I won't give up. I will defeat you—even if I have to kill you in your sleep."

Shan Yu chuckled. "If you find a way to kill a Hun while he rests, do inform me of it. I have had many men try and none have lived to tell the tale."

"I don't care if I die as long as you go out with me," she responded hotly. This only seemed to amuse him and he removed the sword from her neck.

"If your goal is to kill me, your best chance is if you come to the palace as my wife." He smirked when she visibly recoiled in horror at the thought. "What better way to kill a man than after he is satisfied?"

Mulan couldn't help it. She felt her stomach roll uproariously at the thought laying with this despicable beast of a man and bile rose in her throat. She choked on it and coughed, fighting the urge to vomit. Shan Yu found this even more amusing, chuckling darkly at her reaction.

He crouched down to her level, although he still seemed to tower over her despite it.

"I assure you, you will have no choice. None of my wives will on our wedding night."

Rapist. He would rape her if she would not cooperate.

She couldn't help herself. "I will kill you before you can defile any other those poor girls."

Shan Yu chuckled again. "You should be more worried about yourself."

And then all pretenses of conversation vanished when his hand gripped her hair and yanked her head back, forcing her spine to arch to ease the pain. Mulan was able to refrain from crying out even though her eyes watered with tears at the harshness.

Shan Yu watched her pensively. "Your bindings hide your features, but it is clear to me that you are certainly a woman." His voice was soft, but dark with intent.

Before Mulan could react to the threat, her changshan was ripped open, the button that had kept it closed over her chest popping out of its hole and disappearing into the dirt.

"No!" she screamed, but he yanked her towards him and tore the bindings away from her. She brought her hands up immediately to cover herself and began to thrash despite the grip on her hair.

At that moment, she didn't care if all her hair was ripped out. She wouldn't—couldn't—let this happen.

She kicked out at him, landing a solid blow to his shin. It clearly hurt her foot more than it did his leg, but she didn't stop, kicking him again and again and screaming like a banshee.

Shan Yu suddenly released her hair and she gasped in relief, just before cuffing her hard on the head. She underestimated his strength and the blow dazed her, leaving her to see black spots cloud her vision as she lay helplessly on the forest floor. She struggled to bring herself back to focus and escape, but he had hit her hard and her vision was blurring.

No, no!

He gripped her ankle as he stood, ruining any chances of escaping. As her eyesight cleared and she became coherent once more, she tried to yank her ankle from his grasp. However, the angle kept her helpless on her back, her lower half suspended in the air as he went through his saddlebags.

"NO! NO! Let me go you bastard!" she screamed at him, throwing herself to and fro in an attempt to wiggle free from him. She felt his grip tighten and her foot felt cold from lack of circulation.

Shan Yu quickly found what he was looking for and dropped down. Mulan's eyes widened in horror when she realized what he had been looking for.

Rope.

She screamed again and used her hands to propel away from him—she couldn't care less about modesty at that moment—but using her ankle, he pulled her beneath them. With a whistle and a gesture with the hand that held his rope, the horse trotted away to the nearest patch of grass and began to eat, completely oblivious to the commotion.

"You pig! You worthless scum! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" Her screams continued but her voice was getting hoarse, her throat catching painfully from the volume of her words.

With her hips pinned between his knees, he released her ankle and untwined some of the rope. Mulan beat at him with her fists, but he gathered them together—her strength was nothing against his and both wrists were completely encompassed by his single hand—before wrapping them in rope and then cinching a knot so tight it left her hands going numb.

She would have used them to beat against him still, determined to never give up, but he kept one hand on her bound wrists to keep her from continuing her assault. Then he wound the rope around her mouth and the back of her neck, gagging her with the foul-tasting twine.

The gag was tight and triggered her gag reflex. She choked around the rope, flailing her head back and forth and working her teeth on the thick twine to free it.

However, with those two tasks done, he was ready to proceed.

The pants were only partially removed, pulled down to her knees to provide just enough access. Mulan felt tears fill her eyes and her ragged screams intensified, although the gag went a long way in quieting her.

Shan Yu was silent as he freed himself from his pants, also lowering them just enough to expose his member.

Mulan went pale and felt as though she was about to be sick as she saw his massive size. He wouldn't enter her, he would rip her open. Her eyes were so wide the whites her of her eyes showed all around.

He forced her legs apart and she bucked her hips in a final attempt to free herself, but in the next moment all the hatred she had ever felt for him was confirmed, intensified, and made her dizzy with its enormity.

Shan Yu impaled her in a swift movement. She saw white, her pain blinding her, but the shock set in quickly and she didn't even whimper. The next thing she knew, there was nothing.

Mushu was outraged. Shan Yu had followed the ruse perfectly and he had been able to slip away without being noticed. He'd quickly made his way back to where Mulan had rolled off the horse and followed her tracks, the small rocks she'd left as a trail helping immensely until he reached a stream, where they ended.

Cri-kee found him soon after and led him to where Mulan had told him she would be. However, when they got there, Mulan was nowhere in sight.

And then, then, the source of his outrage: he and Cri-kee had seen a light and curling smoke in the distance, the telltale sign of a fire, and Mushu wanted to yell out his anger. Shan Yu was still out there and she lit a fire? He'd always trusted his ward's judgment, but she had seriously made a mistake doing something like that. It wasn't even that cold—a fire definitely wasn't necessary!

He and Cri-kee quickly made their way towards the fire. Just as it came into sight and he was about to yell at her for being stupid, he stopped in his tracks and his jaw fell.

Big-and-Scary was sitting at the fire, Mulan unconscious and bound not far away. His steed was close by as well, laying on the grass and resting comfortably.

Shan Yu must have knocked her out, the bastard. Mushu motioned for Cri-kee to go investigate, as Shan Yu was watching the fire intently. With Mulan to his side and out of his direct line of vision, it was a fairly safe procedure.

As Cri-kee approached her, Mushu glanced at his feet and saw a black button—much like the one that had buttoned Mulan's changshan closed. He wondered why it was there for only a split second before he quickly glanced up at her.

Her clothing was disheveled upon closer inspection, as though it had been hastily put back on. The changshan was parted where the button had been taken off.

A deep horror filled the dragon's gut as he moved as close as safety would allow. When the sight became clear, he would have vomited if it had been possible for dragons to do so.

Her pants were slightly torn and he could see a damp, dark red spot on her inner thighs and near her privates. Her hands were bound and she was gagged, but her legs were left slightly parted. Clearly, they hadn't needed to be bound.

A rage filled Mushu unlike one he'd ever felt before. The fire in his stomach rumbled and he was filled with a killing intent that he'd never experienced, not even in his long lifetime.

Cri-kee returned but said nothing. Mushu now wished he hadn't sent his innocent friend to inspect Mulan. Despite the rage he felt, there was a deep, aching sorrow in his heart.

The pair exchanged a look and that was all that needed to be done. Cri-kee broke out crying, singing a heartbreaking song in long, loud chirps. Mushu couldn't look at Mulan's broken form any longer and closed his eyes.

Hot tears, tears hotter than fire, ran silently down his face and then evaporated into steam as they dripped off his chin.

Mushu choked on a sob. "I failed you, babygirl. I don't know if you can ever forgive me."

He stood vigil over his best friend and charge the whole night, not allowing himself a moment of rest for his grave failure.

It barely even scratched the surface of how badly he needed to punish himself.

So...yeah. Depressing. FYI, if you're looking for romance, this is the wrong fic for you - at least if it's going to be between Shan Yu/Mulan.