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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.

Chapter List
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The four soldiers were shocked as they scanned the scene the moment they arrived in the Imperial City. The city was completely overrun by the Hun army. The men were on small, dark horses rather than the white stallions typical of the Imperial army, and under their armor they were dressed in dark, rugged clothing made of leather and fur, typical attire of the Hun nomads.

None of them spoke a word of what they were thinking, that their captain and comrades were dead. There was no need; they all knew that the Huns didn’t take prisoners.

They slipped off to one of the side streets, hoping it would be clear of the enemy, but found the narrow streets infiltrated with more Hun soldiers. To their great surprise they weren’t harming anyone. There was none of the pillaging that they expected; the Huns just appeared to have taken over and made the city their own, their property.

There was murmuring among the throng in the streets about the death of the Emperor and that Shan-Yu was the new Emperor. The four friends looked at each other in horror and dismay on hearing that.

They had removed their armor in order to not be pegged as Imperial soldiers and they wandered through the streets, the armor stored in their packs, trying to appear nonchalant, as plain travelers. Mulan had left Khan in the forest on the outskirts of the city, near a stream. Though she was worried about him, she knew that he could find his way home if she didn’t return to him, and he would have food and water where he was waiting.

They slipped around to the back of the palace unseen and Mulan stared at the columnar supports that were built around the perimeter of the palace, turning over an idea in her mind.

“What are you looking at, Mulan?” Ling asked.

“Those columns. We can climb them. The same way we climbed the pole at camp.”

“It’s a good idea, but what if someone sees us?”

“We’re in the back. There are less people around here,” Chien-Po suggested.

“Agreed,” Mulan concurred, “and we can wait until the middle of the night, when no one will be around.”

“Still, there will be Hun guards inside. They'll see us,” Yao insisted. “And there are more of them than us.”

She frowned in deep thought, not answering, thinking of Bi’s words. Don’t underestimate the power you could have going in as a woman.

~~~

“What?” Yao roared.

“Shh,” Ling hissed fiercely, elbowing his friend in the rib.

“Ow!”

“Guys, stop it!”

Chien-Po stepped between them, wishing to avoid the start of another brawl between his two hotheaded friends.

“I am not dressing up like a girl,” Yao growled, keeping his voice down now.

Ling burst into laughter, pointing at Yao. “Yeah, you would make an ugly woman. And I think the Huns will notice your beard and moustache. They're not that desperate.”

Yao glared at him.

“Chien-Po wouldn’t be too convincing as a woman either,” Mulan laughed. “And come to think of it, neither would you, Ling.”

“You can’t go in there alone, Mulan.”

“It’s the best way to get in unseen. No one will see me as a threat.”

“I know, but we can’t let you go by yourself. Besides, maybe they won’t see you as a threat, but they might…” he trailed off.

“Besides, what will you do when you get in there? The palace is under siege. There’s a mob of Hun soldiers in there.”

They fell silent and the three men watched with grave expressions as Mulan took Bi’s dress and slippers out of her pack and glanced around for a place to change. Defeating Shan-Yu now seemed like a lost cause; yet this mad girl pressed on, optimistically believing that somehow they could implement a plan to accomplish the impossible.

“She’s going to get herself into trouble,” Yao muttered, watching her go off to find a hidden place to change.

“This is a pretty desperate situation,” Chien-Po responded quietly. “Maybe it’s the best idea we have to work with.”

“No, the best idea would be to remain alive.” Yao sighed. “So, what do we do? We have to help.”

His two friends shrugged.

“Maybe if we could inform men in the villages and call everyone to arms…” Ling began. “If we can get a message to one village, we can ask them to pass it along and organize revolt.”

Mulan reappeared many minutes later, wearing the dress and the slippers, her hair down again. Ling explained his idea to her and she nodded.

“Good idea, Ling. One of you should get back to Bi’s village. She knows you. Tell her what has happened; she may know a lot of men who can help.”

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, she realized that she had opened herself up to a raunchy response about Bi knowing a lot of men and she felt her face heat up with embarrassment. But the three men said nothing.

She put her soldier's clothes and boots in her pack, then handed it to Ling. “You’ll have to take this for me.”

“How are you going to climb the columns? We don’t have the captain's bronze disks here.”

Mulan held the sash from the dress in her hand and indicated it. Her friends looked at her in surprise.

~~~

“Set up a guard around the Imperial City. Word may have spread among the people in the villages and they may unwisely think they can start a rebellion,” Shan-Yu ordered Boke and two of his men. “We will need to have a watch at all times.”

“Conquering this place was easy,” Batu remarked after Boke and his men were gone from the room. “Keeping control and running things will prove much more difficult.”

“I have always valued your counsel, Batu, and I will continue to rely on you.”

The expert archer acknowledged his commander's compliment with gratitude.

“What about the Imperial soldiers that we captured?”

Shan-Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We will have to get rid of them. They were loyal to the previous Emperor. Unless we can convince their commander to serve me. He would be a great asset to our army. If he is willing, perhaps his men will follow him.”

“There is very little chance he will do that.”

“Yes. But if he is to die, he will be given final rights as a man. A good meal, a woman of his choosing for the night. Though he is the enemy, I have great respect for him as a warrior. He came to defend his Emperor fearlessly, with no thought to his own life. He will die as a man, and with honor.”

~~~

The three soldiers made their way through the Tung Shao pass for the fourth time, trudging through the snow and then the mud as they descended to lower altitudes.

Ling scrambled down ahead of the others, lankier and quicker than his two friends and quite anxious about Mulan’s safety. He had been completely against her going into the palace by herself. She was so stubborn though and would not heed anyone's advice.

They had watched from a distance as she scaled the column leading to the second story of the palace wearing that dress and the slippers on her tiny feet, using the sash the way they had used the bronze disks in the arrow exercise. She was completely unarmed.

He didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if Shan-Yu found her. She was pretty, so chances were good that he wouldn’t kill her. But he might do something else.

Ling felt his stomach clench and he forced himself not to think about it.

“Come on,” he called back to his friends, trying to mask the worry in his voice. “Pick up the pace. The sooner we get word out, the sooner we can get back with reinforcements to help Mulan.”

Yao and Chien-Po pushed themselves to catch up.

“Sorry, Ling,” Yao muttered. “You’re a faster runner.”

They found the streets of Bi’s village still severely flooded when they arrived many days later.

Bi looked up as they walked into the tavern in the afternoon.

“What are you three doing back here?” Bi exclaimed in surprise. “Where’s Mulan?”

She noted the gravity in their expressions and instantly became alarmed.

“Is she alright?”

“She was when we left her. But she did something…that could be dangerous,” Ling told her.

“Sit down,” she said, gesturing to the table. “I’ll get you drinks and we can talk.”
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Shan-Yu's Victory