"NO!"
Shang's fingers just grazed the knotted wood of the gate door as it slammed shut in front of him. He brought his fist down onto it in fury, but in vain. Once shut, these gates did their job. They kept people out.
"Who's there? I am Captain of this camp, and you will answer me!" Shang addressed the silent doors. Even as the words left his mouth, Shang knew, but he wished he didn't. A hundred moments suddenly whipped before his eyes - small looks, tiny remarks that meant nothing, really but somehow now were everything.
"I won't leave anything out".
Jealous, prejudiced perhaps, a man past his prime against a soldier fresh and green out of schooling, but that was all.
"They wouldn't last a minute against the Huns!"
He thought back ot an explosive conversation inside his tent just nights ago. Shang, pleased with the recruits' progress so far, had proposed that they should leave Whu Zhong shortly to join his father and the main Chinese army. The councillor's panic had been palpable. An overreaction, the men weren't perfect, but doing well enough. Shang had put it down to his fear of having to report as such to the Emperor. Troops that the people of the Middle Kingdom were counting on to be the tipping scale in this war.
"Those boys are no more fit to be soliders than you are to be Captain!"
His disdain of Shang couldn't be clearer. But enough to turn on his country? It was ridiculous.
"Once the General reads my report, your troops will never see battle"
He had to know that these troop naive and untainted by the blood of battle as they were, were in fact better off fighting to save the country then going home. Did he want to see the country at the mercy of the Huns?
That was the question that Shang was afraid he already knew. He stepped back from the gate and raised his voice.
"Chi Fu!"
"Youre too late, Captain" a voice sneered back from inside the camp. Shang heard Mulan gasp softly behind him. So she hadn't quite believed it either.
"Open the gates Chi Fu" Shang managed as levelly as he could. "You can't win this, you're no soldier. We killed the Huns you led here. I've trained those men well and they will hold you for what you have done".
At least he ones that were still alive and not undone by what they had seen... Shang bit his lip, recalling the bodies of the young recruits. Boys, still. Not quite men.
"HA! I warned your father and I even warned you, you know nothing! No experience, not worthy of the honour of Captain!" The councillor's thin reedy voice came back shrilly through the night. "Did you think this was it? Half the men of this camp are mine! They are bought, and will turn against you! They will fight for me, and for my master! The leader of the great Hun army!"
"Shan Yu?" Even Shang couldn't keep the disbelief from his voice. "Your master is the Emperor" he said, the words sounding thin and foolish to him even as he spoke them. Well the gods only knew he fawned after him enough. Chi Fu's devotion to the Emperor and his matching sense of entitlement was well known at the Imperial court and among the army.
"Pah!" Chi Fu sniffed. His voice took on a hard edge.
"The Emperor! He denied me what was mine. Luckily, I've been offered a better deal. For a price of course".
The gate stood between them but Shang could still picture the the irritating smirk that was surely spreading over the older man's thin face.
"The troops that you said yourself were not fit to be soldiers? What would the great Shan Yu want with them?" Shang retorted. He was trying to fit together the puzzle that had led to this posturing idiot fooling him for so long, and to regain control of the situation. But how could he do that when he didn't even know what the situation was?
"The troops are nothing. The weakest will be killed. The stronger" - Chi Fuadded disdainfully - "will work for us to achieve our purpose. The Hun army has need of slaves and horse boys." He chuckled mirthlessly.
Shang curled his fists in rage. How dare he speak with such dishonour. What had happened to this man to command such madness? He felt Mulan touch his arm in solidarity.
"No Captain", Chi Fu continued angrily, "I was supposed to learn your tactics and strategies before eliminating you, as a means to secure our victory. Thanks to that wretch, now I have to think of more creative means to an end".
He meant Ping. Well, Mulan. Shang could only imagine the added disaster that would have followed had Chi Fu discovered her secret. Mulan stayed silent beside him, but he could feel her body tense in anger.
"But no matter. The Hun army know where we are and they will be here in a matter of hours. You will be found Captain, and you will not survive this next fight. Although"- Chi Fu paused dramatically- "perhaps you are more valuable alive. I know your father and he would come to your aid if he thought you were in peril. But they will not know that you will be leading them to us and to the Hun victory."
"I would not put him or China in such danger", Shang spat out. "You are a fool Chi Fu, to think so".
Chi Fu laughed, the sound muffled from behind the gate. "But it wont be you, Captain. You forget who controls the correspondence to the General. He will believe anything that comes from my hand. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do, but run, and wait for us to find you".
Shang stepped back, shivering in the sudden breeze that rippled through the air, but still feeling the sweat that ran down his spine like the finger of a ghost. It was an impossible situation. Chi Fu was leading the Huns to Whu Zhong. The General would come, and be led into a certain trap. The Hun army was vast, and despite the skills of his father, their sheer numbers alone would fell them like a stalk of young bamboo. Shang's recruits were to be a last hope to win this war, and now they were either likely dead, traitors, or would soon be under the instruction of a new Captain of a different kind.
It was just him, and Ping (he still wasn't sure which name to call her). She was stronger than he had ever hoped to believe, but she had no idea what was in store for them. He wasn't sure he really did either.
"Why, Chi Fu?". It wouldn't help them, but he had to know. "Why do you dare to bring dishonour upon yourself and your family?"
"You speak to me of dishonour?" Chi Fu's voice from within the camp had gone eerily quiet. "The dishonour was the one brought upon me by the Emperor and your father! You think he is one man, but I knew another.
"Your father and I were good friends, years ago. I trained with him as a young man and we both had ambitions for high rank within the Chinese army. We were soldiers of equal skill and reputation, though you wouldn't know it now", he recounted bitterly.
"In a mission, just before the new Captain was due to be announced, I was thrown from my horse. Instead of helping me, your father left me behind, and as a result, by the time I was found, the injuries I had sustained left me unfit for service. You will of course guess who the Emperor chose to be Captain, and later General. But he knew I was the better soldier, with the better mind for strategy. He offered me a position on his Council, scribing for him, following him and his chosen favourites around, never anything more than a servant.
Shang opened his mouth to retort, but found only silence filling the air.
"So you see, Captain. It will give me much pleasure to restore my honour by bringing down those who have behaved with dishonour their whole lives. I will finally have my potential recognised, and can put my skills to use. So, as I said, run if you wish, but you have already lost".
Shang heard the sound of footsteps retreating into the depths of the camp, and the low rumble of orders being issued from presumably the traitors inside. He slowly sank to his knees, his mind reeling with the stories - no - the lies he had just heard.
He had no idea how long he had been kneeling there until he felt the small hand on his shoulder and Mulan's urgent voice in his ear.
"Shang, we have to go".
Okay, there is a LOT of dialogue in this I know. I am catching up with my ideas and setting the scene for more action and excitement to come. That said, I hope you enjoy!