Love or Law

Fireworks!

Mulan gaped in shock at the giant fist only inches from her head. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, the man had literally punched his way through a solid, wooden, Imperial door! The thought of the power and force that must have been behind that punch had Mulan literally running for her life. She had no idea what she was going to do, all she knew was that she had to get Shan Yu as far away from Shang as she could.

The sound of...a chicken?...heralded Mushu's arrival on the scene. He met up with her, riding on the back of a very strange looking, yet vaguely familiar, naked bird. Mulan didn't have time to question the how or why of it.

"So what's the plan?"

"Uuummmmm."

"You don't have a plan?!"

"Hey, I'm making this up as I...go!"

Skidding to a stop, Mulan caught herself on the nearby windowsill. A window that happened to directly face one of the guard towers which weren't being used as guard towers on this particular day. The sight of it had instantly brought an idea to Mulan.

"Mushu...!" Before she could explain her thought, Mushu was already in action.

"Way ahead of you, sister. Come on Crickie!" With a well timed jump he managed to hijack a kite and begin his journey across the courtyard. Mulan watched him go, her idea slowly expanding in her mind, details emerging and solutions making themselves known. This could work if...

With an angry roar, Shan Yu barreled around the corner, murder in his eyes as they locked on her. Mulan spun around and almost ran into a pillar. Sensing more than seeing the blade swinging towards her, she dropped to the ground and put the pillar between her and the sword. With a horrendous cracking sound and a hailstorm of splinters the pillar crashed to the floor. Mulan took off, diving behind another pillar before making a run for it and clambering up a third as she heard the second pillar fall. Splinters dug into her fingers and caught at her skirt but her only thought was to get as high as possible before....

"AAAUUHHH!!!"

The scream was ripped from her at the violent impact as Shan Yu cut through the pillar with ridiculous ease and her world turned sideways for one brief, terrifying moment. All she could do was close her eyes and cling to the pole with all her strength as it slammed through the nearest palace wall. When the falling sensation ceased, she opened her eyes and took stock of the situation.

The pillar had caught on the building, now stuck out at a ninety degree angle from the palace. The wood vibrated under her hands and Mulan looked up to watch in horror as Shan Yu took a step up onto the pillar. Mulan carefully shifted until she could rise to her feet, searching for an escape route. As Shan Yu stalked forward, Mulan looked up and caught sight of the sweeping eaves of the roof. It was a bit of a jump but certainly doable after Shang's training. Without a second to lose she took a breath, ignoring the sharp pain in her side as she did so, and took the leap.

Her hands slapped solidly against wood and her fingers immediately curled to grip the edge and lock her into place. She almost screamed again as pain shot through her, radiating from the wound in her side as her body twisted and stretched, but she refused to let go. Gasping to breathe through the pain, she risked a glance over to the guard towers and caught a glimpse of dark wings descending upon it. She didn't have much time to work with. She needed to find a way to lure Shan Yu onto the roof and get him into position.

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As if from a great distance, Shang heard Mulan's scream. It shot pure adrenaline and fear through his veins and had him moving before he realized what he was doing. The blows he had taken to the face had left him dazed and confused but; using all the training he had received from his father and his grandfather passed down through the generations; he was able to focus his thoughts on one objective - get to Mulan.