No price is too great a price when it comes down to family.
❝She was a warrior, a fighter, a lonely soul in disguise. And all she needed to do was bring down the Hans.❞
Exceptional achievement isn't born on sticks.
----
"You would've done the same...
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MULAN WOKE UP FEELING GUILTY.
If only her ancestors could see the mess she was now.
Sweat dribbled off her forehead, her legs tangled in sheets. The door slowly creaked open, revealing the crooked landlord. "So, how did you sleep, my darling? " asked the landlord, an evil glint dancing in his eyes. "I, I slept well" she stammered. He seemed to see right through her. He gave her a grin that sent chills down her spine. Who was this man?
After he left, Mulan slipped out of her bedroom, unbeknownst to the landlord. The stallion neighed softly, fond of her touch. "Let's go."
She galloped out of the stable, loving the way her hair felt against the wind. She knew she looked less than presentable; she just didn't care.
Passersby stared at her as if she was foreign, their gazes burning holes in her back. She could hear their muffled whispers as if their horrid gossip could ever be as perfectly poised as they were.
"Where was she raised? Her manners are horrible."
"She must be new. One of the traitorous Han orphans come to suck our supplies away."
"She is a shame to her family. Just look at her."
Looking behind her, Mulan had a brilliant idea. It wasn't like anyone would recognise her here... Giving them what she called her 'signature smirk', she reached into a bag and grabbed a tomato. It was slightly misshapen, still plump and ripe.
SPLAT.
The tomato flew through the air, launching itself onto one of the girls' faces. Mulan tried to contain her laughter, but failed horribly, seeing the sight before her.
"Ah! Ugh, the nerve of that girl!" Her friends crowded around her, giving Mulan the stink eye.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mulan saw a man. He was gazing intently at her, not willing to break eye contact. It was like time itself stopped. All she could see was... him. From his chiselled torso all the way up to his narrow jawline. Her breath hitched. For a moment, it felt as if they were the only two people in the world.
She was quickly brought back to reality as her horse galloped away, leaving the strange man out of her sight.
---
She reached the camp within a day. She bit her nails, anxious for what was to come.
Here we go.
She grabbed her sword and with a swish, her hair was gone. She glanced at her reflection in the river. She looked... what was the word? Boyish and unkempt. It wasn't like she'd been thrown into a pond and left to learn how to swim; she had been taught how to fight before. Reminiscing, she remembered how when she was young her father taught the art of swords. She stood there for hours, practising her martial arts.
Swish. Kick. Leap. She suddenly opened her eyes from her memories and found herself toppling very ungracefully over a log. Oh, she needed practice all right.
She silently mourned for her glistening cut hair, strewn across the damp grass. It represented her past life, a life she could never go back to. Perhaps it was for the best.
A life for a life.
She silently prayed to her ancestors, unable to chain a tear from worming its way out. In another life, she would be the perfect girl that her family had always wanted. Someone who could honour them like she never did.
But another life wasn't now. Another life was when she died.
And if she were to die, she would do it in a battle of bloodshed against the Hans.
SHE WOULD NEVER ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS.
--
Lying there on the ground, she breathed in the fresh air. It would be the last time she could taste the fresh air as she did now. She'd seen people after the war. They were cold, calculating and unforgiving.
She couldn't imagine what she would become.
Stories of the war were often nightmarish and macabre.
Some people went crazy after the war. They had seen so much bloodshed that they could end it right then and there. She would never become like them. They were cowards, trying to escape their pain through death.
Suddenly, her mind drifted off to the man she met this morning. Her face became a beetroot red as she thought about him. Inwardly she scolded herself. Now wasn't the time for love. She couldn't concern herself over a simple little crush. Pushing herself up, she threw her cut hair in the river.
Just in time as well, as she the moment she turned around she saw the man from the market.
❝WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?❞
Authors Note: Thanks for the spam katliaklnz and Egyptian_Gingerbread. You gave me a little push to write! Please vote and comment if you liked this chapter!
