First thing in the morning, Shang checked on Mulan. She had some color in her cheeks, but the skin around the twice stitched-up wound appeared red and inflamed. The doctor applied a poultice to it and gave Mulan an order to stay on her mat and rest. He repeated this order to the captain, since he had a feeling she wouldn't comply. Shang would insist on it, he knew.
He was right on both accounts. Mulan wanted to be up and about, but Shang marched right into the medical tent and told her she wasn't going anywhere but back to sleep. "You won't be any help at all if you don't heal."
Mulan raised her head up.
"Shang, thank you. For what you did yesterday. I really think he would have done it right there if you hadn't intervened."
He sat down by her. "You're welcome. You should know that several of the men have told me that if I hadn't stepped in, that they would have. They all respect you and still consider you the bravest one of all."
Mulan laid her head back down with a smile on her face and went back to sleep.
Later that day, after clearing it with the captain, Yao, Ling and Chien Po visited her. The four of them had been best buddies in training camp, after all.
Mulan smiled when they walked in, but hoped they wouldn't make her laugh too hard.
"Thank you guys, for what you *didn't* do yesterday. I guess I should have known you wouldn't, but at the time I wasn't sure who to trust."
Chien Po, always the gentle giant, was the first to reply. "Mulan, you're one of us. We wouldn't dream of hurting you or any other woman, for that matter."
Yao and Ling immediately agreed. "The only one who would have done that is no longer a problem."
"So where did they hide the body?"
"They dragged it over to where a whole bunch of the Huns had gotten buried by the avalanche, and dug a deep hole and threw him in it. Then they brought back a bunch of their weapons."
It was the next day, now. Mulan was allowed to be up and around a little, but not allowed to do anything other than walk. No lifting, no running, and certainly no sparring. And Shang seemed to have put other soldiers on "Mulan duty" to make sure she followed Dr's orders.
After eating breakfast, she looked around at the snowy mess that had been the Hun army. Weapons were poking up out of the snow. A frozen arm and some dark hair could be seen above the drifts. Thousands of men, frozen to death. She felt a hollow ache in the pit of her stomach. Even though they were the enemy, she still recognized they were human beings.
A falcon's screech interrupted her thoughts. Shan Yu's falcon. Of course, it survived. It was able to fly above the avalanche.
Suddenly, Mulan heard that sound that, once heard, is never forgotten. She had heard it just after she fired the cannon and triggered the avalanche. Shan Yu's battle cry. Aaaaaaaaah-aaaaaaaah...
She glanced over the ridge and saw the Hun leader climbing out of the snow. Then another Hun soldier and then another. In total, 6 of them were standing above the snow looking at the Imperial City. Then they started walking that direction.
In that instant, she didn't care about Dr's orders. She ran straight to Shang's tent and burst in. He had been looking at a map. Before he could scold her for running, she told him what she saw.
"Move out. The Huns are alive and headed to the palace."
One of their daily drills had been to put up and take down their tent and pack up and unpack, as quickly as possible. Once, they had spent an entire day on it. The soldiers quickly took down the site. Everyone got their own, then helped Mulan with hers. Within mere minutes, they were all standing at attention. Having learned this from his father, Shang had stressed how vital it was that this be done quickly when necessary. Now, it was necessary. The training paid off.
"Mulan, you're on Kahn. No buts!" Shang helped her climb up.
"We need to get into the palace before they do and find the emperor. Half of you will get him to safety, half will be with me to find the Huns and eliminate them. Now."
Suddenly, Mulan had an idea. "We can all dress as concubines. Then it won't be immediately obvious who we are and we can move about the city and the palace undetected."
Soon after entering the city, they passed a dress shop. Mulan went in to explain their plan, and soon appeared in the doorway with a nod. The shop owner ran across the road to get more help and get make-up for the soldiers while they changed.
Three women accompanied her back, and they went to work on the soldiers to change them from men to concubines. If the situation hadn't been so dire, it would have been hilarious. Mulan breathed a silent prayer that they would all live to laugh about this some day.