Chapter 5- First Day at Camp

Jiminy had always been an early riser and he could see that Mulan was also. He groggily lifted himself out of the saddlebag to find Mulan talking to herself. He cringed as she tried to speak a few octaves lower and hold her arms out in a somewhat manly way.

'I see you have a sword. I have one too!' she enthused to the bamboo surrounding them. She unsheathed the sword but her hands fumbled over the hilt and it clattered to the floor. She cried out angrily and stopped to look over at the camp that was bustling below them.

'I think I may be able to help you.' Jiminy offered. Mulan spun toward his voice scared that she had been found out. Jiminy fluttered into view and she immediately sighed with relief.

'Oh Jiminy, I thought you might have been someone else.' She reluctantly sheathed her sword back at her belt then awkwardly trudged toward him. 'You're not going to persuade me to go back are you? I've already made my decision.'

'Of course not. I understand why you're doing this. After what happened I thought I should do my best to help you, I can't help but feel that this is my fault.'

'This war is not your fault Jiminy.' She reassured then swiped her forehead that sweated with nerves. 'How can you help me? Do you know how to be a man?'

'I know more than you think.' He took place in a gap left by her armour. 'Now shoulders back, stand tall and don't shy away from anyone.' Mulan did as she was instructed and already she could tell a difference in the way she was walking and acting. Leaving her small settlement behind and tethering her horse to a nearby tree she walked down to the camp.

She was met with an onslaught of horses that charged free of the encampment. Riding them were hardened veterans looking at ease on their muscular war mounts. Taking Jiminy's advice she walked with a straightened back but was finding it hard to disguise her disgust. Men were picking their noses, feet and ears and spat mucus hurls at the muddied ground. She was mesmerised by a man who could make his unruly tattoo of a dragon move with a flex of his muscles when she accidentally bumped into someone. She was surprised to find that he was actually shorter than her.

'What do you think you're doing?' he growled, his pulsing swollen black eye making her feel sick.

'I, uh.' She began but she could hear Jiminy's protests and instead she lightly punched him on the arm which she'd seen friends in the market doing. 'Sorry about that. Just admiring that guys ink…'

'Oh yeah? Well do it again and I'll punch you so hard it'll make your ancestors dizzy!' he roared yanking her toward him. His face was bloated with anger and Mulan suddenly wanted to just run from the camp and go home. A mammoth of a man appeared behind him and put a hand on his shoulder chanting a Chinese prayer of peace. His contorted anger ceased and his mighty fist let go of her.

'There you go Yao now that wasn't hard was it?' the man said in a soothing voice. His towering frame was completely hairless, a stark contrast the small and hairy Yao. A lean man joined the fray and took interest in the sword that hung at Mulan's side. It was a special family heirloom and had served her father in the last war. Both he and his sword were famed throughout the land for his unmatched skill at wielding it until he was injured in a ferocious battle. The sword had remained in tact however. The golden hilt was fashioned in the shape of a fierce dragon.

'Fancy sword you got there. Let's have a go!' he reached for it and Mulan held firm.

'I'm afraid not fellas. Family heirloom.' She said simply hoping that they'd drop it but instead it seemed to frustrate them.

'A puny boy like you shouldn't have a sword so fancy.' The lean man said eyes darkening.

'Ling.' The bald man warned but was met with a cold stare.

'Show him you won't be pushed over Mulan. Show him how tough you are!' whispered Jiminy frantically. Mulan might not be a hardened man of war but she had done her fair share of work and wasn't the weak fair maiden that everyone expected of her. She stood her ground and her knuckles whitened as she grasped the hilt.

'You should leave it or else.' She threatened liking the sound of her voice. It might have sounded strange but it sounded tough. Ling drew back a fist and swung at her but she ducked nimbly and the punch swung wild hitting the man with the dragon tattoo. He held a hand to his mouth and it came away red. In retaliation he punched him back Mulan could imagine the stars that danced around his head as Ling collapsed on top of Yao. That one thing started a chain of events that caused the whole camp to riot. The morning porridge was flung around the air, men piled a top each other in mangled pyramids and sore losers nursed broken teeth and bleeding noses. Mulan tried her best to stay out of the fight which was luckily interrupted by a strong resonating voice.

'Soldiers! What is going on?!'A handsome powerful man hollered across the camp. His face was stern and unfaltering but Mulan guessed he was younger than he appeared. A dizzied Ling pointed to Mulan's horror at her and the man stepped over several unconscious men to confront her.

'I don't need anyone causing trouble in my camp!' he shouted down at her with unforgiving eyes. Mulan tried to lighten the situation with one of those manly punches to the arm but it didn't seem to work. 'What's your name?' he asked after a stunned silence.

'Mu-Ping. Ping. My name is Ping.' She stuttered forgetting for a second that she was undercover.

'Let me see your conscription notice.' He said sternly holding his hand out. Mulan handed the scroll that was tucked in her belt and he read it his eyes widening. 'Fa Zhou? I didn't know he had a son?'

'You must be mistaken. He doesn't talk about me much.' Her captain eyed her suspiciously before turning to address the rest of the camp.

'Gentleman you will all clean up this mess. I don't want to find even one grain of rice out of place! The real training will start tomorrow.' He stalked off, Mulan glad that his eyes were no longer on her. She could even feel Jiminy sigh with relief. That relief however was dashed as the entire camped stared at her with furious hatred.