A/N: To all my readers, Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are the rightful property of Disney, except for Luo Jin, Captain Hsiao Tso-liang and Captain Ma Yuan, who belong to me :)

Chapter 13

On the day they left the fortress, the townspeople of Kashgar came to watch. The streets had cleared almost as soon as they had come within sight of the main body of the town, leaving just enough room for the soldiers to pass in rows of six while onlookers crowded in windows and doorways. Women would gather in small groups, some holding infants, and observe them silently while the men lurked on the fringes. Mulan could see that they held little love for the Imperial Army that had occupied the fortress for the past few months, their strange green eyes reflecting their animosity. The streets were silent except for the sound of feet hitting the dirt road; the unspoken agreement of 'As long as you don't start trouble, we won't either' hung heavily in the air and kept lips firmly sealed.

As one of his captains, Mulan rode beside Shang, while behind them followed the rest of his division of the army. He had something approaching four thousand men under his command, an amount that dwarfed the numbers he had been in control of for Shan-Yu's attack almost a year ago. She, herself, had almost five hundred of those beneath her, all of which she had personally selected and trained over the past few months to excel at both horsemanship and the use of bows. Although, she reminded herself, the Turks will have many more.

Shang was in a dark mood, partly due to his previous insecurities over their early departure westward but mostly because General Su had ordered him to ride with the rear guard rather than at the head of the army as was befitting of his position as General. Although Mulan wouldn't have had a choice either way about where she rode, she sympathised with Shang; the rear guard was subjected to everything the forward ranks – and their horses - left behind, all of it trampled into a thick mud by the passage of thousands of pairs of feet and hooves. The mud itself stuck fast as soon as it came into contact with anything, leaving Shang's white stallion looking more like a piebald, and the man himself finely speckled up to the knees.

Shang, Mulan knew, was a man for whom honour was of the utmost importance, but now she was willing to bet that he felt his had been thoroughly besmirched.

They marched for the best part of the day, following the river westward and only stopping once along the way to water the horses and give the footsore soldiers a rest before heading off again. It was dusk by the time General Su gave the order to make camp, the sun already taking its inevitable plunge towards the horizon. Mulan was glad of it, as the hours she had spent in the saddle had left her with aching legs. After sliding off Khan somewhat awkwardly, given her condition, she handed the reigns to one of her soldiers and took a moment to orient herself. Captain Hsiao was off to her left, supervising the unloading of the supply carts. Shang, the same gloomy look on his face as had been there all day, was directing soldiers to pitch the tents. Without turning around, Mulan could tell that General Su was watching her closely, just as he had for the past few weeks. So, without further ado, she jogged off – albeit a little stiffly – to make herself useful.

Shang found her later on carrying two bucketfuls of water to the cook's tent, and wordlessly took one from her. When she tried to snatch it back, he merely held it out of reach. A short tussle ensued, in which they fought for possession of the buckets while also trying to avoid spilling the contents or laugh too loud. It quickly ended, however, when Shang held the target object above her head and out of reach, though the funny looks they were getting from passing soldiers didn't cease.

"So then," She huffed, resigned to the length of his arms and her own short stature, "has the journey been as bad as you expected?"

"So far, no, but there's plenty of time for something to go badly." He replied, his earlier mirth draining from his face.

"Don't be such a pessimist. I'm sure General Su knows what he's doing-" She ignored Shang's ill disguised snort, "- so there's no need to worry. We'll be fine."

"It's not us I'm worried about." He sighed, keeping his voice low. "It's them." By 'them', she supposed he meant the soldiers, but perhaps most of all the infantry.

It was Mulan's turn to sigh now. She shifted her lone bucket and gave him a tired glance from the corner of her eye. "Look, Shang, we've done our best to train them, and they trust us to lead them. It's our turn to trust General Su, now." She said in a serious tone that she didn't feel entirely suited her. Switching to lighter one, she continued, "Anyway, however difficult it is, nothing's impossible, right?"

"Well, actually–"

"Oh, hush!" She silenced him, her brow puckered. So that might have been a little flawed, but… She caught sight of his face, and let out a giggle, her frown melting away. He looked almost like a scolded child, his eyes facing the other direction and an expression composed of a strange mix between belligerence and contrition, as though he wanted to believe her point and argue over it all at once. She wouldn't have been surprised to see a pout on his lips – in fact, almost wished there was one, just so she could see what it looked like – but instead his mouth was pressed into a thin line. Perhaps he didn't like being laughed at, Mulan realised, as he turned to regard her. He surprised her, however, when the corner of his mouth twitched upwards, just slightly. It wasn't a smile, exactly, but at least she knew he wasn't angry with her.

"Come on, Shang." She said, laughing and bumping shoulders with him before breaking into a gentle jog (her legs hadn't quite forgiven her yet, it seemed) to the cook's tent. Shang didn't increase his pace, but Mulan was heartened by the sound of his quiet laughter following her.

-----

Their meal that evening was a simple affair of plain rice with a dribble of broth for the commanding officers and the lucky few soldiers that arrived early. It was bland, to say the least, but after months of the same Mulan was quite accustomed to it. Even the soldiers, for whom initial groaning at every sitting was customary, would eat without complaint, driven by their stomachs to eat every last grain. She knew from experience that a journey such as the one they were on required every bit of energy one could scrape up, and more often than not the next meal was of more concern than the looming threat of war.

She and Shang sat with the rest of his captains along the length of two camp benches. Including herself, they numbered eight in total, and while Captain Hsiao Tso-liang was the only one she was particularly familiar with, the others were pleasant enough. The majority of them were older than both Shang and herself, much like Tso-liang, though they had no qualms in serving under someone so many years their junior. Of course initially some of them had been less than willing to cooperate with a female captain such as she was, resulting in a few less than subtle comments directed her way. They had eventually come around, though, after she had proven her skills as a captain... and after a stern talking-to from Shang.

Mulan didn't like the fact that she was forced to rely upon him so much. If it weren't for him she wouldn't have any respect from the other captains. If it weren't for him General Su would have sent her home. If it weren't for him she wouldn't have had the opportunity to come in the first place. And Luo Jin…

Perhaps she'd better leave that train of though well alone.

She knew she wasn't weak, and she could cope well enough when she wasn't completely out of her depth. She'd decimated the invading Hun army with a single cannon only a year ago, and fought their feared leader Shan-Yu. She'd come out alive with all but a scar, albeit quite a large and nasty one. She was respected by the Emperor and had now even gained grudging acceptance from her village. The soldiers she commanded here respected and trusted her as their captain, despite the fact she was a woman, and she had trained them to be proficient with the bow and in the art of horsemanship.

Shang needed her, too. She'd saved his life, once, back in the Tung Shao pass, back when she was masquerading as a man. Nowadays she helped him where she could, though he had grown more capable as a man and as a soldier; mostly she would help with paperwork when he had too much to cope with or when he became too sleep-deprived to function properly. She had a good head for tactics, he told her, when they discussed possible strategies to employ against the Turks. He'd even admitted to her that he'd missed her company after their stupid argument back in the desert.

Nonetheless, Mulan resolved, she didn't want to be a liability. She didn't want to have Shang putting himself out to protect her, even though it was reassuring, because he needed to watch his own back too. She would become stronger, so he didn't have to worry any longer.

She was brought out of her musings by the raucous laughter that erupted from the other end of the bench. Captain Ma Yuan, a man of almost forty years, was regaling one of the other captains with amusing tales of his exploits as a young soldier, though most of the table had become his rapt audience. Mulan, her meal finished, put her chopsticks down and listened with a small smile to the older captain's story, laughing along with the others. Even Shang managed a tiny smirk.

The stories they shared with one another helped them to forget about the imminent danger they would find themselves in, and to some extent the act of sharing fragments of one's history in the army with others helped to nurture the bonds of trust and friendship that would be so vital on the field of battle. It had started as an idle topic of conversation over the first meal they shared all together back in Kashgar, once the main body of the forces had arrived and settle in for the winter. It had since evolved into something more of a tradition for them, as the subject of past battles and rigorous training was something they all shared in common. So, each night they would take turns to tell a tale over their bowl of tasteless rice, and learn something more of the people they would be coming to fight with.

It was startling how much one could find out, even about the people you thought you knew well. Shang, it turned out, had spent the better part of his teenage years serving under his father along the northern border, on the Great Wall. He'd gained his first battle scar when he was fifteen and had stupidly faced off against an invading Hun almost twice his height. He ended up getting skewered through his shoulder, and though his attacker was quickly dispatched and the battle won, Shang had spent the night thinking he was going to die because it hurt so much. On a more amusing note, he had apparently once had his hair shaved off by a vengeful friend in retaliation for a bad prank, and subsequently spent most of the following month wearing his helmet until it grew back.

Captain Hsiao had a more impressive track record for the number of battles he had fought in. He, too, had served on the Great Wall - though a more westerly stretch – as well as against the Japanese on the eastern coast. He had a great many scars from their wickedly sharp swords – "katana," he said, "can cut through boulders as though they are dumplings", but Mulan wasn't sure she could believe that. When asked on the origin of the scar on his face, he had given a wry grin and explained it was the result of a drunken brawl over gambling debts with another soldier, who had pulled a knife on him.

When Captain Ma's story finished and the last chuckles died down, Shang stood from his place and turned to address them. Smiles disappeared and silence fell upon them as they waited for the General to speak, suddenly serious. It was habit, more than anything, to await his words with such grim anticipation, but then, as soldiers, they were taught to expect the worst.

"General Su is planning some sort of competition for the soldiers this evening," Shang said, folding his arms and assuming an authoritative pose. "Your help will be needed to judge and to maintain control. You'll meet on the eastern edge of camp, and assemble yourselves as General Su instructs. Until then, you are dismissed."

-----

When Mulan arrived at the designated spot as she'd been instructed, she hadn't expected to be handed Khan's reigns and a long-handled torch, and told to ride off down the hill. She'd been sent off with Captain Hsiao, also on horseback, in a rather brusque fashion by one of General Su's Captains, who'd been muttering something about 'checkpoints' and 'make sure they don't cheat'.

And what was the competition?

A race.

She wouldn't have expected that any of the soldiers would be up to running around in the dark, particularly after a long day of marching. For those that had horses to ride it wasn't so bad, but she'd seen the queue for the medic's tent on her way here, and quite a number of the infantry had been receiving treatment for blisters and other similar ailments. She was surprised, then, when she saw the enthusiasm in the faces of some of the soldiers as she and Captain Hsiao rode past. Surprised mostly because the prize for this race was only a small bottle of rice wine. When she voiced her puzzlement to her companion, he gave her that same wry smile he was wont to give.

"It may not seem like much," He told her, his visible eye glinting in the light of the torch as he gave her a sideways glance, "but the soldiers will be glad for it. The mountain roads don't have inns for them to drink in."

Indeed, they must be, she thought, planting the torch firmly into the soft ground. Even here at the second checkpoint the racket the soldiers were making could reach them.

The track followed a winding path that roughly encircled the camp, passing by the river to the south and stopping just short of the rising slope to the mountains on the western side of the camp. Considering that the camp itself was no small thing, the race would be a challenge even for those in the best physical condition. Mulan found herself glad she didn't have to run it.

Suddenly, with a great roar, the crowd of soldiers surged forward towards the first checkpoint. It was quite a fearful thing, Mulan thought, to have the majority of their army running headlong towards them, the ground shaking faintly with the pounding of their feet.

The mass of soldiers was just now approaching the first checkpoint, and Mulan saw now what the brusque captain meant by cheating when several of the soldiers attempted to cut the corner. The captains at the first checkpoint wasted no time in rounding them up and sending them packing. Mulan had little time to dwell on this, however, as the leading group of soldiers was fast approaching their position.

"You ready?" She heard Captain Hsiao call to her over the increasingly loud thrum of feet on the ground. She gave a quick nod and gathered her reigns tighter into her hands.

The mass of bodies passed with a faint whoosh. Luckily for them, very few soldiers chanced cutting the corner, and those that did quite quickly changed their minds when they saw Mulan and the great black body of Khan homing in on them. She felt quite proud that none of those that tried it were her own men, though judging by the look on Captain Hsiao's face, she guessed he'd caught a few of his.

Once the last few stragglers passed them, they made their way back to the camp and the finishing line. Most of the noise was emanating from the other side of the camp, though nothing could be seen through the forest of tents and flags, so Mulan assumed that the race was probably nearing completion. There was a small gathering of people waiting for the race to finish, mostly consisting of the men who didn't participate, but scattered throughout with captains. Mulan even spotted the medic and the cook talking animatedly with one another, though the subject was a mystery to her. On the fringes of the crowd she spotted Shang and General Su standing together in rigid silence, probably more for appearance's sake than anything else.

"What say we make a bet, Captain Fa?" Captain Hsiao said cheerfully, "Whose men will cross the line first: yours or mine?"

"Oh, well I'm not a gambling person, you see," Mulan replied with equal cheer, a smile spreading across her features. From his stories, she knew better than to bet with him because he didn't pay up, but she'd play along. "I know that my men will come first, anyway. You're certain to lose."

The older captain gave a loud bark of a laughter at that. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Because I learnt my training techniques from the most ruthless instructor there is," She said, lacing her tone with mock haughtiness and giving him a playful sideways glance. "My men know that if they don't come first they'll be running this race again."

Captain Hsiao raised a thick eyebrow at her, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing. She stifled her amusement, though, when she noticed not only the gazes of those closest to her were focussed in her direction but also those of both Generals. Quickly, she turned her eyes back to the spot where the competitors were due to appear.

It didn't take long. She'd barely taken a dozen breaths by the time the first exhausted men came around the corner. The leading group consisted of six men, though, disappointingly, none of them were hers. The onlookers didn't seem to care, and immediately shot to their feet to applaud and holler at the approaching group, while the runners put on a last burst of speed, spurred ahead by the calls of their comrades. Seconds later, they stumbled across the finish line in quick succession, before collapsing on the grass.

The winner was a well-muscled man who looked as though he'd been doing more strenuous exercises his entire life, as although he still lay sprawled out on the ground he'd already largely regained his breath. Shang made his way over to congratulate the man with a hearty thwack on the back and the promised bottle of rice wine, which the man promptly removed the top of and swigged, prompting a small swell of laughter.

Gradually the remaining soldiers arrived back from the race, exhausted but generally well tempered even though they hadn't won. Several even ventured over to congratulate the winner and join in lamenting the diminutive size of his prize, while the Captains gravitated together to speculate on the best performers.

"How about another race?"

Mulan's head whipped around to find Shang standing in the middle of the crowd looking smug. A chorus of groans erupted around him, but he held up his hand for silence. She looked around for any sign of General Su, but it appeared as though he had made himself scarce. On returning her gaze to the younger General, she found him to be looking right at her. She broke her eyes away to cast a curious look to Captain Hsiao, though it appeared he had no idea what was going through Shang's mind either. Perhaps he'd fallen subject to a random bout of madness.

"Now it's the turn of your Captains." Came Shang's voice.

Yes, definitely madness.

-----

A/N: First of all, I'd like to apologise. The rate at which I've been writing is pitiful, and I know that you've all wanted me to speed things up, but I've been caught up in the maze of life and had difficulty finding my way out again.

Yet again I am approaching exam season (yay), but on top of that I have an interview at Glasgow University I have to prepare for and a new job that leaves me far more exhausted than I'd like. Sometimes, even if I have time to write a chapter I don't feel like it. It's not like I'm lacking ideas or anything – I know exactly what I want to do with this fic – but just motivation. Life is hard, but I'm getting through it.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter entirely in one day, so if there are problems with it, please tell me. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out sooner.

Thanks for all your reviews! I really appreciate every one of them, so keep sending them in :P

icedragon6171