Chapter 112

Campout

While they ate, both groups shared accounts of what they had seen while tailing the Heartless. The soldiers had removed their armor, as they were not engaging combat. Shang, unlike the others, had also removed his robe, so he sat shirtless. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had removed their armor and accessory attachments, which lay in a pile near one of the tents. Mulan helped Kairi practice using chopsticks.

"We saw the same thing," Aqua said. "They just kept marching, attacking villages along the way."

Shang brought his hand to his chin, deep in thought. "So, it's true. The Heartless are all an organized movement. The question is: what is their objective."

Mickey raised his hand. "We have a theory, General," he said.

"Go ahead. And this isn't an elementary school class. You don't need to raise your hand."

Mickey lowered his hand sheepishly. Kairi giggled in amusement. Riku and Aqua smiled encouragingly. Everyone at camp gave him their attention, interested in what he was going to say. "Well, the Heartless aren't just going from town to town willy-nilly and attacking people there," he began. "Each group is following a specific path, in nearly a straight line, as if they were going somewhere specific, and they were trying to increase their ranks on the way there."

"He's right," Donald agreed. "They seemed to be marching with a purpose."

"We think that they're moving toward the Imperial City," Sora declared. "It's really the only thing that makes sense. It's like with Shan-Yu's forces: when you invade a country and make your way through the countryside, you go for the capital. That's where the ruling government will be, and where you'll find the people with the most power and authority."

"You think the one leading the Heartless wishes to conquer China?" Mulan asked, shocked.

Mickey shrugged. "We don't know if that's the goal or even an extra reward along with what they really want, but it certainly seems to be the most advantageous strategy."

"And if they were looking for something specific, that would be the most likely place to find it or whoever would know where to find it," Riku added. He picked up a piece of pork with his chopsticks and ate it.

"You believe that the Heartless' commander is in search of a special item?" Shang asked.

Riku nodded. "That's how it's usually been lately," he replied.

Shang nodded, understanding. "If that's the case, then the Imperial City would seem to be the most plausible destination. However…" He turned to one of the soldiers. "Let me see the map." The soldier took the parchment out and unrolled it. Shang asked for a brush and an inkwell, which another soldier provided. "The Heartless we pursued followed this path," he said as he drew a line from the location that his squad had scouted straight in a southeastward direction.

"And our group went this way." Riku took the brush and drew a line on the path his squad traveled.

Shang and some of the soldiers dotted points where scouts from the other groups said that they had seen the Heartless and drew lines from the circles that marked their starting points down through the lines of dots. When that was finished, they stepped back so that everyone could look at the map. Some of the soldiers gasped, but Sora, Mickey and Riku nodded while Shang let out a "Hmph", as their suspicions had only been confirmed. All of the lines led straight to the Imperial City.

"You're right. They're planning to surround the City on all sides and overwhelm all defenses with immense numbers," Mulan remarked.

"In an ambush like that, the men there won't stand a chance," one of the soldiers said, worried.

"Which means we need to be there to defend the Imperial City," Shang asserted. "Tomorrow at dawn, we'll break camp and head to the Imperial City. We'll try to head them off and ensure that the city is well-defended."

The entire camp was in agreement. Something had to be done, and before the Heartless reached the Imperial City and threatened the Emperor, his advisors, his servants, and the soldiers stationed to defend the city. They finished their meals and set plates, bowls, and utensils to be cleaned. Kairi and two of the soldiers took the duty of cleaning everything while the rest of the group either prepared for bed or sparred with one another.

Sora watched Shang and Mulan step aside to discuss the situation. He saw how calm Shang was, how certain he was of the mission even when the prospect of such a great threat was so terrifying. He held a great deal of respect for the army leader, who had built what had been a pathetic regiment of inexperienced men, as well as a cross-dressing Mulan, into a formidable army capable of making any general or emperor proud. Sora had learned quite a bit from him while he was his captain during his brief time in the Chinese army.

Maybe, he thought, he could do to learn some more.

"Hey, General Shang," he called out as he approached the commanding officer.

Shang and Mulan turned around. "Do you need something?" Shang asked.

Sora nodded. "I was actually wondering if you could give me some more training," he replied.

Shang raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's necessary? You are quite a formidable warrior in your own right."

Sora could not help but smile slightly at the praise before refocusing. "I'm afraid I'm going to need to learn some new and better techniques before some of my next fights." He recounted his defeat at Zeromast's hands. Mulan winced at a few points in the story. Mushu climbed out onto Mulan's shoulder to listen and gasped at dramatically-appropriate points (and one inappropriate point).

"Aw, Sora! Dang, that's rough," Mushu consoled. "Don't worry, I got you! Let me show you a little of my Mushu style, Dragon Fu!" He waved his arms and did a little dance that was most likely intended to resemble a martial arts practice. Mulan smiled and rolled her eyes, then casually brushed him off of her shoulder, causing the dragon to let out a yelp. Shang shook his head in disbelief at Mushu's antics.

"Alright. I think I know where to start," Shang said.

Sora nodded. "Thank you."

Shang turned to a nearby soldier and shouted an order. The soldier entered a tent and came out with three bamboo poles, each one six feet in length, and handed them to Shang. Shang bowed in thanks and tossed a pole each to Sora and Mulan. Sora caught it with both hands, then watched in awe as Mulan caught hers with one hand and began to twirl it around, then spin around with it and deliver a jab with one end at the end.

Shang gripped his pole, his hands spaced apart and holding the pole at a diagonal. "In order to branch your skills out, you must learn a new discipline. To do that, you must practice with an unfamiliar weapon," he told Sora. "When your familiar tactics will not suit you, you must learn to explore an alternative."

Sora nodded, understanding. He waved the bamboo bo staff around uncertainly. "So, how do I use this?" he asked.

Smirking, Shang held his staff out in front of him at arm's length, his right hand gripping from the underside and his left hand gripping overhand. "The first thing you need to understand is that you are not training to use a staff; you are training with the staff," he explained. "One does not run around and swing it like a tacky blunt instrument. Think of the staff as an extension of your body. It moves with you." He demonstrated by raising his leg and holding his staff over his right shoulder, then stepping forward and swinging the staff forward by pushing his right hand and bringing his left hand down. Next, he threw a round kick, then spun around, twirling his staff above his head as he did so, and brought the staff to his rib with the front end pointing forward. Next, he thrusted the staff down at a diagonal to his side, raising his leg on the same side as he did so. He showed off a few more moves, each one acting with his full body and with the staff serving more as an extension or axis of each move rather than the focus and weight of the swing. He concluded the demonstration by bringing the staff back to his side, holding it parallel to his body with a reverse grip, and then bowed.

Sora nodded and smiled, impressed. "I see." He gripped his bo staff the same way that Shang had at the beginning of the demonstration. "Let's do this!"

Shang smiled. "Alright. Let's start with the forward down thrust," he said.

Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua watched this lesson take place. Riku and Donald chuckled as Sora made a few missteps while Mickey and Aqua smiled as he slowly but surely got the hang of the technique.

"You really think this will work?" Aqua asked. "Learning new fighting styles to go up against someone like Zeromast?"

Mickey shrugged. "It seems like a long shot, especially since, from what he said at the time, he knows just about every technique there is," he admitted. "But it also looked like his real advantage was knowing exactly what moves Sora knew by then."

"It actually looked like he spent most of the fight letting Sora try to attack him, you know?" Goofy surmised. "He waited for him to do something and then countered each one."

"And he seemed to have been thrown off when Sora did a roundhouse kick," Kairi added. "I don't think it was the fact that the kick was a really good trick. It's a pretty simple move. I could probably do it easily. What I think caught Zeromast off guard was that Sora had only recently learned it."

"I think I get it," Aqua said. "He beat Sora because he could predict each of his attacks. So if Sora learns to use a broader variety of styles and techniques, Zeromast won't have that advantage and he'll have to fight on more even footing."

Riku nodded. "That's the idea. But if he's as good as he says, and since we didn't actually see what his own fighting style is like on his own, I guess we can only hope that it'll be enough."

They watched Shang knock Sora on his back with a sweeping blow. As Sora picked himself up, Kairi and Goofy gave him encouraging thumbs-ups.

"You know, I guess we might as well train ourselves, huh?" Aqua suggested.

Kairi smiled and summoned her Keyblade. "Alright if I take a few lessons from the Master?" she asked.

Aqua let out a laugh. "I would be happy to impart some of my wisdom." She summoned her own Keyblade and flicked it out to her side. They began to clash Keyblades, blocking, retaliating, and dishing out special tricks. Aqua commended Kairi on her technique and shouted out advice whenever she landed a hit on the less-experienced girl.

Riku, Mickey and Goofy also began to spar one-on-one-on-one. Donald, who was more magic-oriented than physical combat-focused, simply watched his friends practice. He noticed Sora match up against Shang and Mulan, performing with the bo staff with a surprisingly fluid grace for a beginner. He also saw Kairi get a few good hits in against Aqua, even knocking the Keyblade Master off of her feet. As he watched, he wondered if there was anything he could do to hone his abilities. He recalled seeing Aqua casting Firaza in the Realm of Darkness, a fourth-tier spell which he had never quite reached. He wondered if he could learn to unlock that level of power. His eyes fell on Mushu, who also sat and watched Sora training with Mulan and Shang. He walked over to the dragon and sat down next to him.

"Say, Mushu, where does your fire come from?" he asked.

Mushu laughed. "Oh, I see what you're doing. You want to learn the dragon art!" He sized Donald up and down. "Well, I dunno if I can teach you the full, pure force of it. That stream you see some of my boys huff out, you know, it takes a little something that I'm not sure you have in you. He he… Actually, they say I don't have it in me either. They said the furnace won't fit in me, you know? But anyway, I think I can give you the gist of what goes on in my gut here." He cleared his throat and clapped his hands. Cri-Kee looked up at him curiously. "Take a seat, lucky bug. Now, taking a look at your own fire magic… No offense一 it's good form, but it's a bit sloppy. You're pulling it out of thin air, converting some energy to make it appear. Dragon fire, however, is something drawn from deep within you. It flows through your body, burning with your soul. Kinda like how that bo staff is used as an extension of your body, fire, pure fire magic, is a projection of your own spiritual strength, channeled with your chi, and fueled by your emotions. To call upon the full extent of that power, you must come to understand the fire that burns within you. Got it?"

Donald and Cri-Kee gaped in awe. Mushu, counter to the aura that he always projected previously as a semi-incompetent goofball, had just displayed a great deal of wisdom. Donald felt that he would take his advice to heart, which left him in total disbelief.

Mushu blinked, wondering why the duck and cricket were looking at him strangely. "What? Oh, come on! Gimme some credit here! I'm not just some fool! Sure, I don't really take myself seriously most of the time, and I mess up a lot, but you don't get to be a family guardian ever if you don't know anything about spirituality, and especially if you're a dragon who doesn't know how fire breathing works!" he complained. "What, you can buy Goofy giving out sage wisdom and explaining everything perfectly but not me?" He snorted some fire through his nostrils, crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. You figure it out. Have fun with your fire magic business." He turned around and walked away.

Donald and Cri-Kee looked at each other, not entirely sure how to respond. The cricket shrugged, then turned back to watching Sora, Mulan, and Shang. Donald turned and stared into the campfire, watching the tongues of its flame float and crackle. He figured that he might as well take Mushu's advice and search for the fire within himself. He walked over to the campfire and sat a few feet away from it. He then began to breathe in and out slowly, relaxing.

At the same time, Sora won a match against Mulan, tripping her up and then knocking her down with his staff. He began to celebrate his victory by spinning the staff over his head like a helicopter.