The two women traveled in companionable silence, Sui Fu leading, Mulan following. Logically, Mulan knew that she was in unfamiliar territory and the other woman seemed to know where she was going. However, after traversing a few miles, Mulan began to recognize landmarks. Sui Fu was leading her towards the army's old camping grounds on the coast. 'I must have been moved far while I was out,' Mulan realized, 'Two days' ride away from my capture site. How did I get here?'
"I forgot to thank you back there," Mulan started hesitantly.
No answer from the woman in front of her. Impulsively needing to fill the silence, and satisfy her curiosity, Mulan forged ahead.
"I hate to ask, but where are you taking me?" Mulan finally asked.
Sui Fu glanced at her companion, calculating how far she was from the drop site. She would have to carry Mulan two miles if she knocked her out now, which was doable but quite unnecessary. But meanwhile she would have to come up with an answer (feasible), and that would require speaking and disguising her blind hatred towards this woman, no, girl who rivaled herself for Shang's affections (not so feasible). Shang would be hers and hers alone, she thought with conviction. But first, she had to eliminate this girl-child who the people called a warrior.
"A few more miles and we'll be out of harm's way," Sui Fu replied as sweetly as she could. 'At least, I will be,' she thought darkly, 'You, General Fa, will be reunited with your beloved in the hell that awaits.' Unnoticed by Mulan, a sinister grin of satisfaction appeared on her savior's features.
"Wake up!" Someone ordered loudly. Shang recognized the voice as one of his four guards.
Li Shang blinked in the dim light, his hazy vision clearing. He could hear heavy footsteps and breathing, as if someone was either excited or angry. Shang hoped it wasn't the latter.
Deliberate fingers reached for Shang's face, Shang flinching away from the contact. For the past few months, skin to skin contact meant cruelty and pain, physical and psychological. However, these fingers merely grasped his chin firmly, tilting Shang's face towards the light. The fingers were large and covered in a black glove. Masculine and powerful, Shang noted. And restrained.
An eerily familiar and evil voice echoed near Shang's ear, the breath stirring the hairs on the back of his neck.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
A hulk of a figure entered the light, allowing Shang to see the scarred face of the embittered voice, Shan Yu.
Shang repressed a sharp intake of breath. Shan Yu knew of his capture by Sui Fu? For how long? What did he want? How was Sui Fu involved with Shan Yu? Did he want to take his revenge? No, he would have been dead long ago if that was Shan Yu's motivation. All the while, Shang struggled to keep his face blank of any reaction, but he could not repress a defiant glance.
"I have no friends," Shan Yu continued, "so /you/ are all I have to play with." He released Shang's face roughly. "But if I have you, /General," the last word spat mockingly, "I will lure who I really want."
This time, Shang could not stop the breath from catching in his throat.
Shan Yu wanted Mulan.
The setting sun stained the world a vivid red, a deep shade of crimson that bloodied the dead bodies on the ground. Torn flags, torn men, and the irony of patriotism tinged the air, along with the smell of the ocean. A slight breeze futilely cleansed the air, but only managed to mix the odor of blood and sweat into a heavy brew.
"Hey guys! Over here!" Ling's voice rang across the body-littered battlefield.
Chien Po finished praying over dead soldiers, wishing them well in the world beyond. Then the peaceful man looked sadly across the field. He did not like fighting, and he did not like war. He only hoped that this battle would help bring the war closer to an end. But he would fight to protect his country and its people, his people, no matter the cost.
"C'mon Chien Po, Ling's found something," Yao urged, putting a rough hand on the kneeling man's shoulder.
"Did he find her?" Chien Po asked quietly.
"Not yet," Yao answered solemnly. A downcast look of understanding passed between them. War left no victors, even if the enemy was now dead.
Chien Po followed Yao to Ling, who was in the temporary hospital tent. A soldier with a large red gash across his thighs was lying on a bed while being stitched and bandaged by the nurse, Chui Wei. Yao recognized the young man as Lum. He was from Mulan's troops. Yao bit back the stab of pain at the thought of his friend. No one had found her body yet, and no one had seen her go down. He refused to imagine what would happen to her as a prisoner.
Lum was babbling to keep his mind off the pain of Nurse Chui's stitching. His knuckles were white as he balled his hands into fists, and his face was soaked in sweat, even though the temperature was quickly dropping with the daylight.
"They took her, these dark uniformed men. They made her go to sleep and took her away. And one of them dropped papers. Yes, papers of an island. They took her, and a shadow followed them. I tried to follow too but then I was cut and I was falling and I woke up here. But the other paper, it looked like Japanese, so I couldn't read it. But she was gone and I was wounded and I tried and they still took her..."
"He is very unsettled," Chien Po understated as Lum trailed off in to curses as the pain increased.
"Is he going to make it?" Ling worried.
"He's lost some blood and the blade tore through muscle. He'll be off his feet for a month," Nurse Chui answered without stopping her stitching.
Sympathizing, Chien Po placed his open palm on the man's forehead and chanted a few soothing words. Instantly Lum's body relaxed in slumber. "Sleep well now. You need to heal."
"How does he do that?" Yao muttered to Ling.
"Through meditation, you can accomplish anything," Chien Po answered before Ling could say anything.
"Lum was speaking of a woman or girl. Could that be possibly be Mulan?" Yao asked, afraid to get his hopes up. How many other women were on the battlefield?
"That's what I wanted to ask you guys." Ling exclaimed. "He was going on about how he saw her being kidnapped! Why else would someone drag her off if they could have killed her out there?"
"I agree, but what of the island and the papers?" Chien Po questioned.
"Japan is the only island I know of around here. And if it was on paper, it was a map," Yao assessed. "But he said something about following a shadow."
"That shadow was following whoever took Mulan," Ling chimed in, picking up Yao's line of thinking.
"Nurse Chui, where was this man found?" Chien Po asked.
"The edge of the field, near where we entered earlier." She answered.
"If he followed them to that side, they must be heading south!"
"You lost her!" Hamano, a high ranking Japanese officer, exclaimed in frustration. "How could you possibly lose her?!" He paced the floor of the hideout impatiently, willing himself to calm down. "How did this happen?"
"She put us to sleep with some type of drug. We all awoke many hours later, and the woman was gone, Sir." A man of lower rank answered. He was one of the men who had been drugged and woken up an hour before questioning. He and his men had captured the woman general, only to have her stolen from them a few hours later.
"Do we at least know who took her?" The Japanese officer thundered.
"No Sir." The soldier fidgeted nervously, hoping he would escape punishment.
"Our only hope at a Chinese alliance is gone, you do realize that?" Hamano mulled with increasing volume.
"Sir, yes Sir."
"Stupid mercenaries, taunting them into war with us. Traitors, all of them!" He ranted, disgusted. Hamano breathed deeply, closing his eyes in concentration. He considered carefully. "You are sure she did not escape on her own?"
"She couldn't have. She was just waking up before we were out, Sir. She wouldn't have been able to get out, not without knowing the layout of the holding structure, Sir."
If it wasn't an escape, how did someone know where she was held? Hamano thought, his brow furrowing with concentration.
"So whoever helped her escape knew where we were hiding?"
"I would assume so, Sir."
Something did not sit well with the information.
"Thank you, that will be all," he dismissed. A bow and the room was empty. Hamano was left with his thoughts.