"Ow!...Oh…Ugg…OUCH!" Belle took a deep breath at another failed attempt at dodging a nearby branch, scraping her hand in the process. She looked down at her hand. It hurt a little, but it wasn't bleeding too much. She felt a little puny, letting such a small scratch bother her. Still she rubbed it with lightly trying to sooth away the pain, not noticing a tree root sticking up out of the ground.

Rumplestiltskin looked over just in time to see Belle spiraling face first toward the forest floor. He reached out and caught her by the arm just in time, "Careful sweetheart."
Mulan, who had been several feet ahead of them, rolled her eyes, turned around, and stormed up to them, "Will you knock it off?!" she whispered loudly, "At this rate we're never going to find the Yaoguai! I seemed to be doing much better on my own without that excessive noise you are making back there."

Belle looked up at her apologetically, "I'm sorry! I don't mean to, I try to look out for things…it's just they seem to find me."

Rumplestiltskin laughed, but Mulan did not find it amusing, "Well if you're not more careful, I'm going to have to continue on my own!"

Rumplestiltskin looked Belle over, examining her attire, "Perhaps you'd do better in an outfit suited more for mountain climbing."

"I only have two other dresses. They aren't much different in style from this one," Belle explained.

Rumplestiltskin grinned brightly and leaned toward her, "You forget dearest, that I have magic on my side. All I have to do is wave a hand," he waved a hand over the entire length of her body, "and you'll be wearing what I want you to wear."

Belle gasped at the unexpected change. She looked down at herself, taking in her new clothing. Gone was her blue dress with matching heels. In place of it was black pants with tall black boots, a red vest with puff sleeves, and black leather gloves. It was form fitting, showing off her figure. Belle looked up to see Rumplestiltskin with a smug look on her face. She playfully smiled at him, "You didn't have to dress me like you, you know."

"What would be the fun in it then? I still prefer you in your usual, although I like this quite nicely."

She saw him glance down at her chest then back up again. The vest did show off a fair amount of cleavage, more than she was use to. She felt slightly uncomfortable, but tried not to show it. Belle took a few steps, realizing she would be able to maneuver a little better, although it wouldn't completely rid her of her clumsiness. Still she wasn't use to pants, and such a tight bodice, one much tighter than many of her corsets. "How do you wear this all the time, Rum?" she asked, half teasing, the other half serious.

"Comes with practice, you'll get use to it."

Mulan looked her over, anxious to keep moving, "You think you can be more quiet now?"

Belle nodded, "Yes, I think so."

"Good. The longer it takes us to find the Yaoguai, the sooner it might attack my village."

They continued through the woods up the mountain, trying to pick up the trail, with little luck. "Are you sure we'll find the Yagoui up here?" Mulan asked skeptically.

Belle nodded, "It says right here," she said as she pointed to a page in her book, "The Yaoguai prefers mountain habitats to all others. It hibernates by day, hunts by night."

"Perhaps we should make camp then. It will be night soon, and we don't want to be wandering around the forest while it's hunting."

Belle and Rumplestiltskin agreed, and they found a suitable area to settle for the night.

After they settled, and made a small fire, Belle sat down and eventually began fiddling with the seeds wrapped in the bamboo leaves. Mulan was trying to conspicuously doctor the wound in her side she had received a few days ago, when she happened to glance over and see the seeds. Her eyes widened in recognition, "You met a totoro?"

Belle looked up at her, wondering how she knew that, "Yes."

"Not just any totoro, she met the King of the Forest." Rumplestiltskin bragged.

Mulan glanced over at Rumplestiltskin then back at Belle in amazement, "You should regard that with the highest honor. I have never been so lucky, nor met anyone else who has."

Belle smiled and her gaze went to the assortment of seeds in her hand, "Do you happen to know what kind of seeds these are?"

Mulan moved to reach for them, but as she did so she cringed and sat back up. Belle furrowed her brow. "Mulan, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing…" she replied and tried to hide the injury.

However, Belle reached over and moved Mulan's hand out of the way. She gasped, "You're injured!"

Mulan scowled and jerked out of Belle's reach, "Like I said, it's nothing."

Belle frowned, a little hurt Mulan didn't want her to help her, but she wasn't going to let it go, "I may be able to help, if you'll allow me to."

Mulan was hesitant at first and the decided for it, moving to where Belle could take a look at the wound. At first glance, it didn't look to bad, but a closer look revealed a pretty deep gash in the side of her stomach. Belle didn't know much about injuries, but she did know Rumplestiltskin had the power to heal. She turned to him and grasped Rumple's hands in hers, "Rum, you could heal her, with magic."

He looked her astonished, as if she shouldn't even make the suggestion, "I'll do nothing of the sort."

Belle pulled back, slightly angry, "Why not?"

"All magic comes with a price. She really has nothing I want."

Belle groaned, "You could do it for once without having to ask for anything in return."

"Yes, but then the price would be mine to pay."

Belle rolled her eyes, and dropped his hands, turning away from him, both angry and sad, fed up with trying to reason with him. She couldn't understand how he could be so selfish sometimes. How he couldn't help people just to help them. He certainly had the ability. She looked at Mulan. "Here let me see what I can do," she said as she pulled out a few first aid items from her bag, "I'm afraid I'm not much of a nurse, but I'll do what I can."

Rumplestiltskin sat there silently watching Belle attempt to tend to Mulan's wound. Day by day she continued to puzzle him. It was such an absurd thought, doing something for others for nothing in return. As much as he hated the notion, he couldn't deny loving Belle more for being so compassionate. He suddenly felt bad for denying her request, but he didn't have the courage to admit his fault, so he thought of an alternate action instead. "A story," he said bluntly, causing Belle and Mulan to both look up at the same time questionably. He grinned, "I'll heal her, if she tells us a story."

Belle was surprised in Rumplestiltskin's change of heart. She looked at Mulan expectantly, but Mulan's face was neutral. Mulan stared at Rumple, "A story? Just any story?"

Rumplestiltskin chuckled, "No. Not just any story. I want the story of how you came to be here."

"Why do you care about that?" Mulan lost her gaze with Rumplestiltskin. It was evident by her mannerisms that something had happened. Belle could tell it would be a hard topic for her to talk about.

"Are you really in a position to be asking questions?"

Belle was about to retort, to try to convince him from being so selfish, but Mulan stopped her before she could. "Belle, it's alright. I'll be no good in a fight with this injury. Let him heal me. He'll have his story."

Rumplestiltskin stood, walked over to Mulan, and knelt down beside her. "It's a deal," he stated before waving his hand over her side.

In an instant the wound was completely healed, and Mulan was no longer in any pain. Mulan looked back and forth between him and the wound, almost unable to believe what had just happened. "That's impressive. I've heard tales of magic, but never had any experiences with it in person."

"Yes, yes, impressive indeed," Rumplestiltskin said not phased by her reaction. He was accustomed to people acting awestruck over the use of magic. "Now on with your story."

Mulan paused, looking a little nervous, "What exactly do you want to know?"

"First you can tell us why you're taking it upon yourself to go on this mission, versus just warning your village about the Yaoguai."

"I could warn them, but my people would never believe me."

"Because you're a woman," Belle said knowing the reason why without having to ask. Being a princess herself, she knew all too well how women were rarely given the opportunity to prove their worth. She also knew woman's rights were worse in some villages than others. From the way Mulan spoke, she assumed her village was one of those.

Mulan nodded, "Yes. So after I was separated from the others, I decided to pursue the beast alone, that is until I happened upon you two."

"But why go off on your own? Why not search for your group to help you?"

"She's already told you dearest, because she's a woman," Rumplestiltskin interrupted.

Belle furrowed her brow, not understanding what he was referring to. He seemed to know more than he was letting on, and it was all just a joke trying to extract what he already knew from Mulan.

"Look at her what she's wearing, dearest."

Belle did as he said, already knowing that Mulan had been dressed in armor, but never giving it any thought. Realization hit her and she gasped, "Were you in the army?"

Mulan averted her eyes from both of them, "Yes."

"But, I thought only men can join the army…"

Rumplestiltskin was grinning victoriously.

"That's correct," Mulan confirmed.

"Then…I don't understand."

Mulan looked back up at her and began her tale, "The Yaoguai has been attacking my village for sometime now. It's a very powerful creature, and many of our strongest men couldn't defeat it. Eventually, they needed more and more men, so they began to draft them. My father was one of the drafted men, even though he had already served. I have no brothers, so they couldn't serve in his place. I knew if he went to fight that he would die because he is old, and can barely walk. Still he insisted he was going to go, it was for honor. However, I didn't want to see my father die. It wasn't fair he had to serve again, especially in his condition. So on the eve he was to leave, I cut off my hair, stole his armor, and disguised myself as a man to take his place."

"How noble," Rumplestiltskin mocked.

Belle glared at him, "I think it's brave!"

"Brave, yes, but after we thought the beast was defeated, I was found out."

"Then how are you still here? Everyone knows the penalty is death for impersonating a solider. " Rumple asked genuinely intrigued about why she was still alive.

"During the fight with the Yaoguai, I saved my Captain's life, so when I was discovered he spared me."

"A life for a life. Yes that type of debt can be just as powerful as the price of magic."

Belle placed a hand on Mulan's arm and smiled, "That was a brave thing you did for your father. You could have easily been killed."

Mulan's eyes turned downcast and she stared at the burning flames, "Yes, but now I've disgraced my ancestors and brought shame to my father." She paused, "And when I look at my reflection, I see a girl who's not worthwhile. I see nothing." She closed her eyes willing herself not to cry. She had already shed her tears over everything; she refused to let them flow again. She gathered herself, took a deep breath, opened her eyes, "But none of that matters now. I have to protect my village."

"Even after they shunned you, and left you to die?" Rumplestiltskin sneered, clearly less moved by her story than Belle was.

Mulan looked up at him determined, "The people may not think I have what it takes, but I am going to prove them wrong. When you find something worth fighting for, you never stop trying. I will fight with everything I have, even if it only brings honor to my father and nothing more."

When Mulan spoke of defending her family's honor, Belle could see the sorrow in her eyes fading away and being replaced by a burning determination. She knew that Mulan was going to succeed one way or the other.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You found it. Your books serve you well," Mulan whispered as the threesome looked upon the cave of the Yaoguai from afar, staying concealed in nearby bushes.

Belle smiled and nodded, "How do you plan on attacking it?"

Mulan pulled a bow and a few arrow out, "I'm going to go in there after it," she explained.

Mulan moved to make her way toward the cave, but Belle momentarily stopped her, "Be careful."

Mulan gave a weak smile, "I will." She slowly made her way toward the lair, careful not to make any noise. She held the arrow at the ready, prepared to surprise the Yaoguai.

Belle and Rumplestiltskin held back, Belle watching anxiously, Rumple looking a little bored. He glanced over at Belle who was fixated on Mulan, "Dearest, perhaps it's time for us to make our leave. You did what you said you would do. You helped her track the beast."

Belle shook her head and never took her eyes off Mulan, "No we're not leaving until I know for certain Mulan is safe."

Rumple rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. As Mulan inched closer, it was harder for Belle to see her, and she moved to get her back into view. In the process of moving, her clumsiness caught up with her, causing her to fall sideways, reaching for a branch to catch herself. The branch, however, was to thin for her wait, and snapped in two loudly.

As soon as Mulan was just about to enter the cave, she heard a twig snap, which in turn caused a rumble from the lair. Her stomach droped, knowing the Yaoguai was awakened. Before she ccould do anything, the creature came bounding out of the cave in an uproar, knocking her to the ground.

Belle screamed and fell back into Rumplestiltskin's arms, as she looked upon the magnificent beast that was towering over them. The Yaoguai resembled a giant dog, only it was more like a demon, completely engulfed in flames.

Mulan fumbled, shooting one arrow, but it didn't do any good as the creature let out a loud roar, looked between them, then bounded away through the forest.

Belle and Rumple came running out of the bushes, up to Mulan.

"Are you hurt?" Belle asked concerned.

"No, I'm fine," Mulan replied picking herself up off the ground and still trying to process what just happened.

Belle looked toward the direction the Yaoguai had taken, "Where's it going?"

Mulan took a deep breath, she was clearly worried, "My village…it's heading toward my village."