what a warrior would do | a Mulan au

8| winging it

▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️

◽~Skylor's POV~◽

▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️❇️▪️

"Okay, let's give this a try," I said, standing up and straightening my– I mean, Kai's armor. I walked a few feet away from where Nya was sitting on the grass. I cleared my throat and then did a man-ish march towards the girl.

"Uh, hi there!" I acted out, deepening my voice and sounding awful, to say the least. I saw Nya cringe but I let it slide. I continued, "Where do I sign up?" I patted the weapon on my side as I talked to an imaginary man. "I see you have a sword. I have one too. It's very manly and tough."

I tried to pull out the sword and display it like I had seen Ray do many times. But the iron hilt was so well polished, it slipped out of my grasp halfway through the pull and the whole thing clattered onto the ground.

Nya burst out laughing. I pouted. Even Toyo and Fei, who were resting a little way off, snorted and neighed as if in laughter. Nya couldn't seem to control her giggling fit and leant back in a frenzy. Her father's armor must've been three sizes too big for her because its heaviness pull her down and she fell backwards on the grass with a clunk.

Fei whinnied again.

I stomped up to my sister-in-law and looked down. She was still smiling. "I'm working on it, okay?" I snapped, lending her a hand. She took it and sat herself up, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"You should ask them to hire you as a jester to uplift the army's sour, crabby mood," she suggested. I rolled my eyes and slightly pushed her forehead which led her to fall back again.

"I'd like to see you do better," I challenged, plopping down next to her. She struggled to sit up again but was having a hard time. After I denied helping her (in response to the joke she had made) she threw out her hand and grabbed my shoulder instead. Huffing and puffing, she pulled herself up while nearly making me fall over.

"This . . . is ridiculous," she panted, letting go of me. "These armors are a nightmare."

We had set our camp in a cluster of trees which was situated at the edge of the training grounds where the tents of the army could be seen. We hadn't directly stomped inside upon arrival. I had suggested we make ourselves one with our new personas first so that we wouldn't draw unnecessary attention from the other soldiers later on.

It didn't seem to be going good. But this is what happens when you force women to act dumb and scrub dishes all day; my soft, soap-pampered hands couldn't even handle a stupid sword.

Nya scrambled to her feet and walked over to the rows of ferns which hid us from view of the camp. She pushed them aside and glanced out, sighing downheartedly. "Who are we kidding? It's going to take a miracle to get us into the army."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," I stated, plucking out clumps of grass.

Nya faced me, eyebrow raised. "Figure out what? How to grow biceps and washboard abs overnight?"

I graced Nya with an unimpressed look but I didn't say anything. I knew she was going through one of her stress-driven, agitated phases so I tried to pacify her a little.

"Nya, listen to me," I said, trying to catch her attention. "You're afraid of failing. I get it. But that's how life's going to be. This chance to join the army and bring peace to Ninjago is going to vanquish that fear, I promise."

The ravenette scowled. "The only reason I'm dressed as a man right now and hiding under bushes is because I failed at being a good daughter."