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Shan-Yu's Victory	By : lightbird Category: +M through R > Mulan (Disney) > Mulan (Disney) Views: 16642 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the cartoons of Disney Studios, nor any of the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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“Do you know him, Mulan?”

She nodded and placed two fingers on his neck, feeling for a pulse. “Boke. Shan-Yu’s cousin. He was trying to kill Shan-Yu, but I guess one of Shan’s men got to him first. No pulse.”

“Shan?” Ling repeated.

Yao turned to his friend and shrugged as Mulan remained silent, realizing her slip.

“We need to get to the captain,” Chien-Po warned.

Leaving the prone figure of Boke behind, Mulan and the others made their way through the passageway.

“Mulan,” Ling murmured softly as he strode beside her, “we’re camped on the east side of the city, in the forest. There’s a stream there.”

She nodded.

“In the event that the fighting gets out of hand and we all get separated, get yourself to our camp. We can meet up and regroup there.”

Mulan nodded. “Okay.”

She had a sinking feeling in her stomach as they hurried through the passageway as quickly as they could in the dark, worried about both Shan-Yu and Shang, and she was reminded suddenly of the pang of sadness that had needled her when Chien-Po said that they would all get out of there. Now that her three friends had come they would be expecting her to leave with them.

But she didn’t really know what she wanted to do and very soon she would have to make a decision. Part of her did want to leave with her friends and try to get home, but she feared that she’d never be accepted back after everything she’d done. What kind of a life would she have there anyway? She’d failed the matchmakers test and had been declared unsuitable to be a bride; and now she’d lain with a man out of wedlock. Her dishonor was sealed by her actions with Shan-Yu, despite the fact that the physical proof of her illicit activities no longer existed.

The sound of clattering swords became clear as they reached the end of the dark corridor and Chien-Po felt along the wall for the panel that would open up and lead them out into the room. He slid it open and they stepped out into the room. It was someone’s bedroom, maybe a concubine’s room. There was a large bed enclosed with silk curtains and a bench at the foot of it, where Suren was perched. A separate alcove off to the side housed a make-up table and mirror.

Shan-Yu and Shang had disarmed each other and their swords lay on the ground; they now fought hand to hand, wrestling on the floor. Shang rolled them over so that he was on top, gaining the advantage, his knee pressed into Shan-Yu’s chest, his hand closing around the large Hun’s neck. But Shan-Yu grabbed his arm and pushed it away, attempting to remove the hand on his neck. His other hand came around and punched Shang square in the face. He took the punch fairly well, but his grip slackened and Shan-Yu was able to shove it away and gain the advantage, rolling them both over so that he was on top now.

He managed to reach his sword where it lay, snatching it up, and with his other hand he pulled him up by the collar. He brought the blade of the sword toward Shang’s neck.

Barely giving it a second thought Mulan took off her slipper and threw it at Shan-Yu’s head to distract him. It bounced back toward her and hit the floor with a thwack as he whirled around to face her, his grip on Shang’s collar slackening.

“Mulan…” Shan-Yu spoke her name with an expulsion of air and the look that came into his eyes the moment that he saw her was one of fury and hurt; she could sense his feeling of betrayal immediately and felt her stomach lurch into her throat.

Shang took the opportunity to attempt to extract himself from Shan-Yu’s deadly grip. She cringed as Shan-Yu turned back to him and slammed his head into his. Shang slumped to the floor, limp as a rag doll as Shan-Yu released him.

Setting the lantern she was holding down, she moved forward toward them. Reaching down, she scooped up the shoe that she had thrown and hurriedly slipped it back onto her bare foot.

Her three friends had their swords out already and were prepared to fight. Suren let out a loud squawk to warn his master; not that Shan-Yu needed warning. He’d stood up already and was stalking toward her; she could sense his fury simmering just below the surface.

Mulan gave him a wide berth and rushed toward Shang but he moved with lightning speed, putting his large, hulking frame before her and blocking her way to the prone captain. She feinted to one side and he lunged for her; she darted around him and ran to Shang’s side.

“Shang.” She knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. He began to come around and she helped him to sit up. His eyes widened as he gazed past her.

She didn’t have time to see what he was looking at; and Shang didn’t have time to move or say a word before Shan-Yu grabbed her by the arm with such force that she thought he was going to pull it out of its socket. He yanked her to her feet then lifted her off the floor with just one hand and pulled her against him, her face mere inches from his. Her breath caught in her throat from the force of it; it was terrifying and oddly arousing all at the same time. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to put her down and let her go; but his face was contorted into a pained look, a myriad of emotions playing across his features. A crazy thought occurred to her as she gazed into his eyes; that he looked like he was on the verge of kissing her violently. The words got stuck in her throat and she waited with held breath to see what he would do.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shang grab his sword and stand up. There was a loud squawk from Suren, cut off by the sound of Mushu spitting fire out of his mouth. Confusion clouded her mind as Shan-Yu stared at something behind her until she turned to see what he was looking at. The silk curtain that hung around the bed had gone up in flames so quickly that no one had time to stop it. Yao, Ling and Chien-Po were trying to smother it out now and having no luck at all.

Suren looped over to his master shakily, feathers singed but otherwise no worse for wear. Mushu leaped back to her and hopped up onto her shoulder, hissing at the falcon and his master, and daring Suren to provoke him into burning him again.

Shan-Yu cursed and shoved her to the ground roughly, raising his sword to fight Shang who had approached. Mulan landed on the floor on her backside painfully and she had to fight the urge to rub it. Her eyes darted around frantically as she searched for her own sword that had slipped from her hand when Shan-Yu lifted her off the ground. She snatched it up and scrambled to her feet, putting herself between Shang and Shan-Yu.

“Mulan, get out of the way,” Shang ordered.

“No. This is between him and me.” She turned her head toward Shan-Yu and eyed him pointedly as she continued. “He deserves the chance to get his revenge on me.”

“You were acting under my command,” her former captain replied softly. “I was responsible for anything that my troops did.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his concern and protectiveness of her, his willingness to take the blame for what she had done. He knew very well that she had acted on her own accord. It hadn’t occurred to her that in this way he was so similar to her in nature.

“That isn’t true and you know it, Shang. Besides, I’m not under your command anymore.”

Shang didn’t answer her and Mulan turned to face Shan-Yu bravely. He glowered at her, sword poised to strike and she prepared to defend herself. Before she could make a move toward him, large plump arms encircled her waist and to her great shock she was lifted off the ground for the second time.

“Sorry, Mulan,” Chien-Po muttered and began to carry her out of the room. “It’s for your own good.”

~~~

The commander hadn’t uttered a sound. Instead he’d gestured to his men with the subtlest of motions, communicating wordlessly his plan for them to grab Mulan and get out of there. Shan-Yu had been too preoccupied to notice them, an error on his part. His focus was on her. It had angered him that she’d immediately wanted to run to the Imperial commander’s side when she saw them. She had wronged him. That tiny girl had caused the defeat of his army and very nearly the failure of his campaign to have revenge on the Emperor. A young innocent child that was no match for him in experience and life knowledge was now the bane of his existence. And yet a part of him still found her fascinating; an odd girl, full of passion and strangely pretty in her awkward, quirky way. For a moment when he lifted her off the ground and violently pulled her against him, bringing her face painfully close to his, he was possessed with the urge to kiss her forcefully. He wanted to throw her down onto the ground and climb on top of her; to murder her by making rough, painful love to her and sealing his ownership of her.

Thinking only of his humiliation in the mountains and his desire to retaliate against the cause of it, he was about to lunge at her when she was grabbed by the waist by that pudgy giant who moved incredibly quickly for such a rotund individual. They were backing away from him and out of the room with her before he knew it.

At first Shan-Yu followed the commander that she called Shang, the short round fellow and the thin taller one as they backed out of the room, swords poised, covering their huge Buddha-faced friend who carried the flabbergasted girl out of the room. Then something inside of him clicked somehow and made him stop. His anger was getting the better of him when what he needed was a clear head. He was outnumbered, and as good a swordsman as he was he didn’t want to do anything stupid. It suddenly occurred to him that they were heading back to the bed chamber where that doctor was sleeping. He turned on his heel and headed back into the room.

The smell in the room was a sickening one, the smell of charred material. The curtains around the bed had completely disintegrated into ash and the bed itself was burning. Nothing else around the bed was flammable; once the bed had burned completely the fire would die out on its own. It didn’t matter to him anymore anyway. The palace could burn to the ground for all he cared. Right now he had to deal with Mulan and her friends.

Grabbing the lantern that Mulan had left and stepping into the passageway he headed back toward the chamber where she had been sleeping, nearly tripping over the body of his cousin.

For a moment he knelt beside Boke. Relief and regret flooded him. His cousin had become a formidable opponent; but it was unfortunate that things had come to this. He’d become the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom with Boke’s help; and he had no sense that his cousin’s original intent was to then kill him and take the throne for himself. He was sure that came later. Sadly, he and his family had started falling into the same trap of intrigue and in-fighting that royalty was so famous for. Later, when everything was back to normal, he would give his cousin a decent and honorable burial, maybe take his body back to the steppe so his final rest was at home rather than a strange land.

Their feud had started over an issue that was a foolish one, over a girl that had felled him before he even knew her; his cousin had been right about her after all. He wondered which of his men had managed to kill Boke. Or perhaps the commander himself had done this, saving his adversary’s life without realizing it, he thought with a wry smile.
Rising up again, he left his cousin behind and continued back to the bedchamber, intent on reaching that doctor before Mulan’s friends did. The guards that had been patrolling the entrance to her chamber from the hidden passageway were dead. The commander hadn’t been lying.

Alarm swept through him as he rushed through the small chamber and across his own, flinging open the door to the corridor. Altan and Qulan had remained at their posts, unharmed, and he released a soft sigh of relief. These were two of his best and most loyal soldiers; he didn’t want to lose them.

“The commander is on his way here with the girl and the three intruders. They’re on their way to get that medic. We need to get to him first.”

They nodded wordlessly and followed him to the next chamber where the doctor was sleeping.

~~~

The shadow of the monastery to the east of the Imperial Square kept them hidden from sight yet they still had a clear view of the square and the palace. Shang had apparently communicated to them, without words somehow, to forcefully remove her from the palace and Shan-Yu’s path and then wait for him to appear with Dr. Kong.

“It was the captain’s instruction, Mulan,” Chien-Po explained softly. “And it was for the best. I don’t know why you wanted to let yourself come to harm.”

He looked genuinely sorry about it. Knowing that she had friends who cared that deeply for her was a pleasant surprise. But at the same time she resented this bunch of men that thought they knew what was best for her. She was especially ticked off at Chien-Po for picking her up and carrying her out. And when she saw Shang again she was going to kill him. How dare he take things into his own hands and make decisions about her own life, as if she was still his subordinate? Why couldn’t they understand that she wanted to have a confrontation with Shan-Yu? It was her right after everything that had gone on between them. And he, too, deserved an explanation from her; and a chance to confront her and avenge his army if that was what he needed to do.

And now these guys had gone and interfered with everything.

She felt deprived, as if an opportunity that she desperately needed had been taken away from her; even though she knew they meant well. With a sigh of frustration she stood up and moved away from them. The three men eyed her and Ling stood up to follow her. Rolling her eyes she plunked herself down on the ground a few feet away from them and sat there brooding.

Poor Shan-Yu. He would be left wondering about her, where she came from and what the hell she was doing in the army. She wished she could explain that all she’d wanted was to save her father’s life; and instead she’d hurt so many people by her actions, starting with her own family.

They must be so heartbroken.

Hot tears came to her eyes as she thought it.

The expression on Shan-Yu’s face when he saw her was burned into her brain. He’d looked so betrayed, so hurt. She wanted to tell him why she’d been there; it wouldn’t change the fact that she’d killed off his army. But he would understand.

Or maybe he was too angry to even care why.

Her heart hurt for him. In an odd way she would miss him if she never got to see him again. She was accustomed to his presence now, to the sound of his voice and his low, rumbling laugh. To the closeness of his body and the way it felt when he touched her. She closed her eyes with a sigh as her mind conjured up those moments and the sensations flooded her body’s sense memory.

“Mulan?”

Mushu had come to sit beside her and he spoke up now, interrupting her thoughts.

It probably was for the better that she was away from him. She wasn’t herself anymore due to his existence in her life. But she hated her friends in that moment for forcing the choice on her.

She opened her eyes and shifted her gaze to the little dragon.

“I’ll say it again. I really worry about you, Mulan. But you’re lucky. These are really good friends that you have. They were willing to risk pissing you off forever in order to get you out of there and away from him.”

She remained silent, acknowledging her guardian with a dip of her head but not responding.

“They were all concerned about you, even old Shang.”

“They had no right to make a decision for me.”

“Mulan, they were preventing you from letting yourself come to harm.”

“They were so sure that I couldn’t take on Shan-Yu? Even if Shang is too pig-headed to realize that I’m capable of handling myself, I thought at least those guys would know better.”

“It’s not that they didn’t think you could handle yourself. You’re very self-destructive these days and that’s what they were worried about.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped indignantly, staring at him through narrowed eyes.

She sighed and turned away from him, gazing at the palace again in peevish silence.

“Shang’s been in there for a long time, Mushu,” she changed the subject abruptly when she finally spoke. “We should be in there helping him, not outside waiting. I’m sure that Shan-Yu knew he was headed to Dr. Kong’s room and intercepted him. Shang underestimates him.”

“It would seem that he wants to die, too,” her guardian murmured with a sad sigh.

Mulan eyed him, frowning unhappily.

“Maybe I should leave you alone,” he offered upon seeing her disapproving glance.

“No, you don’t have to leave, Mushu,” she pleaded, her expression softening. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“I know, baby.”

“Stay with me.”

His webbed palm closed around her hand comfortingly. “You got it.”

~~~

Shang pulled Dr. Kong through the panel in the wall that he’d found earlier that evening.

“I don’t understand, Captain. Where is Mulan?”

The captain gestured for him to keep his voice down.

“Chien-Po and the others got her out of the palace,” he whispered. “They’re waiting for us at the monastery off of the square. Stay quiet and wait in here. Shan-Yu and his men are on the way here. I’m sure of that. I’ll take care of them and as soon as it’s clear we can get out of here and join them.”

“Mulan should not be running around after her incident. She should be resting.”

Shang pushed away the twinge of concern at his words. “She’s with her friends. It will be alright.”

“Captain, maybe you should just wait here with me instead of fighting those men by yourself. When they leave we can escape, without a confrontation.” He eyed Shang closely when he didn’t answer. “Fighting isn’t always wise, especially when your sole purpose for battle is revenge. That never turns out well.”

“Keep yourself hidden,” Shang repeated, ignoring the medic’s advice. “If anything happens to me wait until they leave the room and get yourself out of here.”

Dr. Kong seized his arm urgently.

“Listen to me, Captain Li. This is a no-win situation. You’ve fought Shan-Yu several times now. You’ve all been in and out of this palace many times, accomplishing nothing. We came here to get Mulan out safely and you’ve done that now. Let it go. There will be another day to fight. You can take the time needed to gather your forces and formulate a solid plan that will succeed. And to make sure that you’re fighting for the right reason.”

“You don’t understand…”

“Killing Shan-Yu won’t revive the dead. I know about your father, son. I’m very sorry. But killing or getting yourself killed certainly won’t bring him back.”

Shang sighed. “But I’ll be with him. And I won’t have to live with everything that I’ve failed at.”

“You think that you’re completely responsible for the fact that Shan-Yu came into power?”

“I…” he trailed off and heaved a frustrated sigh.

“If that’s what you think then you’re very foolish.”

“I’ve done so many things wrong. And I treated Mulan badly…and now…she seems to be completely attached to that…that…”

“Then you’re jealous? You want to kill him because you think she loves him?”

“N-No…I…”

The soft thud of footsteps cut off his words and Dr. Kong quickly slid the panel closed before Shang had a chance to leap out and face Shan-Yu.

“We’ll wait here then?” he asked now that the two of them were sealed inside the wall.

“No,” Shang lowered his voice to a whisper. “He knows to come in here. We need to keep moving. My father taught me how to navigate these passageways. If we can make our way down to the level where the servants sleep we can slip out unseen. Come on.”
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Shan-Yu's Victory