"Man, something is wrong with her! Oh, look at me; I'm terrified of an invisible intruder! What is she, nuts?" Tong Mu moaned, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. If getting up before sunrise daily wasn't enough, a misfit like Mai had shown up to wake them up even earlier. Over nothing.
"She's alright, just a bit….strange." Tong Mu's gaze fell upon his comrade and friend, Ping. Mu rolled his eyes, smirking. Moments later, Ping was dodging a pillow, confused. Mu jumped up, lightly knocking on Ping's head.
"Hello, hello, anyone in there? Jeez, you're not a morning person, are ya?" In response, Ping merely yawned sleepily. Mu shook his head, sighing.
"Out of the three hundred being trained at this camp, you're the only one who has been able to get along with her. She's bad luck, man. A woman in battle in a man's stead is dishonorable." Tong Mu chuckled, playfully punching Ping in the chest.
"Course, at least she doesn't talk in her sleep like you." Ping raised his head at this friend's remark, opening his mouth to protest. Someone beat him to the chase.
"She might not talk in her sleep, but she talks to herself. She's doing it now, if you two will shut up long enough to listen." Ping whirled around unsteadily, his eyes still glazed with fatigue.
"Junjie, you're just grumpy because you can't flirt with her." Junjie sat up and look at his two friends.
"Oh please, I wouldn't want her as a wife is she was the last woman on earth. Just look at her feet. They're huge!" Both Ping and Mu exchanged glances, eyes rolling at their friend. Junjie was widely known for sweet-talking every woman he met, young or old.
"Point taken that she isn't pretty, but at the theory that she's insane, I have to agree with Junjie on that. You have to admit, Ping, she's more than just weird." At Mu's statement, Ping shook his head.
"Come on, she isn't that bad. Besides, you have no proof that she's insane." Ping stopped, hearing a faint shriek resound a few tents away. His two friends burst out laughing, and Ping found himself dodging more pillows.
"Like I said man, that girl's just bad luck."
"You're punching like girls! Punch hard, punch swift, and punch accurately. Again!" Captain Zou's voice rang painfully in Mai's ear, and she winced involuntarily. A punch was a punch to her, what did it matter as long as you hurt the enemy?
Well, she wished she would dare ask Captain Zou that, however, she didn't want to further enhance her reputation as 'the runt of the bunch'. Mai wasn't a runt. She couldn't be a runt. After all, she had survived the streets for so long. There was no way she was a runt. She was just…out of place.
"Boy, if there was somethin I liked bout trainin, it sure wasn't the smell!" Mushu whispered, covering his nostrils. Mai simply continued the punching exercise, sweat pouring off her and her comrades' bodies. Punching was fine and dandy, but doing it for ten minutes straight and still being hounded about the technique wasn't.
"I can do this baby stuff in my sleep! Keep moving! Remember, swift as the air, strong as the mountain, and accurate so you don't die! Faster! Mai, my grandmother could do better! You're punching, not slapping! Again!" Captain Zou showed no mercy to any of the troops, never the less her. Mai respected him for that, but it sure wasn't comforting now. She still ached from previous training sessions.
In truth, it had only been a two weeks since she began the training, and her fatigue numbed the pain. Unfortunately, it hadn't done so earlier, and during the first week all the men moaned from their overworked muscles. Now, the men worked harder then ever, and though the pain had numbed away, Mai usually fell asleep the moment she collapsed on her sleeping cot.
Most of the men dreaded the archery and learning the new techniques, while Mai was the opposite. While she excelled at the archery and learned quickly, pull-ups and endurance runs wore her down the most. She simply didn't have any arm strength. Luckily, she was the first one in her group to successfully hit nine out of ten bull's-eye. Her torpedo launching skills were accurate, but frustrating. Captain Zou was constantly berating her for hesitating a moment before lighting a match. As she heard in one of his rants, 'a second is long enough to get your head chopped off!'
She was graceful with a stick, sure, but it wouldn't help against a sword. Rumor said that the highest-ranking Huns carried swords sharper than broken glass. It made Mai shudder just to think about it.
"Freeze!" The moment Captain Zou said it, everyone stopped, their legs still in midair ready to kick. Mai gulped, feeling her balance waver for a sliver of a moment. She sighed in relief, seeing that the captain didn't notice her slight misbalance. With great luck, however, Captain Zou no longer faced his troops, but instead faced the opposite direction, greeting a visitor.
"No way. Its ol' baldy!" Mushu whispered excitedly, laughing. Mai didn't care at the moment how Mushu knew the visitor; all she cared about was the threatening size of the man. He was huge, even more so compared to Captain Zou's rather short size. Mai blinked, struggling to maintain her balance as she stared at the giant in shock. Without a doubt, Mai was convinced that this man was able to kill her if he ever wished to.
"Jeez, he even has the same ol' blue armor! Man, I'm meetin ol' guys all over the place." Mushu spoke, and within a few seconds, Crikee's chirped back. Whatever he was saying went through Mai's ear, and out the other, for she was too busy staring at the giant, wondering what type of horse could carry his weight.
"Oh, Yao, you seem happy." The giant had a voice. It wasn't a loud or booming voice, but a…a…wait, did he just call Captain Zou by his first name?
"Yeah, yeah, good seein you too. Tell me Chien Po, were we as wimpish as these men when we were rookies?"
"Wimp?! Who he calling a wimp? Why, Mr. Black eye here got his butt burned firin fireworks!" Mushu insisted, and Mai instantly looked back and shhed him. She froze, hearing chuckles behind her.
"Told you she talks to herself." Mai couldn't tell whose voice it was, but she didn't really care. Even if she saw who said it, she wouldn't recognize him. She never bothered memorizing any faces. Instead, Mai turned her attention back to the captain, attempting to ignore the sharp pang in her chest from the comment.
"Don't answer that," Captain Zou began, seeing the look on Chien Po's face, "I'm guessing you have a message?"
"Why, yes! It says on the note, 'A Hun was caught in the new palace, working as a spy, trying to burn a note containing instructions. Through this information, we have discovered that a small tribe of Huns is currently crossing the mountains. Troops must complete training within a full moon's time, and complete the mission of killing and/or capturing all Huns found. Estimated to be one hundred Huns, at the most. Captain Chien Po is to accompany Captain Zou on the training completion and precede to help complete the mission.' We're team buddies." Mai's eyebrows shot up. Whether it was from hearing that they were to gruesomely smash a small amount of Huns or if it was from hearing someone call Captain Zou a 'team buddy', she didn't know.
"What?! But they haven't even trained a month yet! Surely they can't expect me to whip these wimps' hindquarters into place within that short of a time." Captain Zou spoke, surprising Mai how easily he ignored the 'team buddies' comment.
"I'll help." Chien Po spoke softly, as usual, but sincerely. The captain didn't look comforted. Mai however, was distracted by Mushu babbling behind her. She strained to keep her foot in midair, perfectly balanced, but she her body trembled.
"Besides, from the looks of it, the men are doing well." Chien Po spoke, pointing to Mai and her comrades. At that very moment, shifted his weight, apparently pouting at the fact that Mai wasn't listening to a word he had been saying. It tickled. Oh no….it tickled. Just then, Mai lost her balance. Falling in a heap, she noticed to her dismay, she had landed on a man beside her. That man fell upon another man. Within a few moments, the domino effect cursed the entire group, and almost all the men found themselves on the ground.
"Well, indeed." Captain Zou muttered under his breath.
Mai got up, sighing, and heard Mushu's protests.
"Girl, don't you know how to balance no more?!" Crikee, who was found lying under Mushu, chirped in agreement.
"Who tickled me?" Mai whispered, then turned to see the men all glaring at her as they got up. She noticed Ping's friend, Tong Mu, whisper.
"Told you man, women in the army is just plain bad luck." She lowered her head in shame, but then quickly turned to Mushu and Crikee, frustrated. Crikee pointed at Mushu.
"How was I supposed to know you were ticklish?"