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mulan sat in front of a fire, trying to warm her hands the fire was small she had not had the strength or energy to search the surrounding woods for more than a handful of twigs but as she tried to warm up, she wished she had spent a little more time gathering firewood

groaning, she pulled off her father’s boots the rags she had stuffed in the shoes to help them fit better came out tinged red blisters, some new and some old, lined her feet, which were bloody and raw she grimaced at the sight and then stretched them toward the fire reaching down, she grabbed her small food bag and looked inside there was only one lonely apple remaining sighing, she offered it up to black wind, who devoured it

“maybe if i beg forgiveness, my family will take me back” she said when the sound of black wind’s chomping had grown quiet the horse didn’t respond looking across the fire, mulan’s eyes grew wide

the bird was back

the same ugly, strange bird that she had now seen three separate times sat on a nearby log, watching her mulan’s stomach rumbled “is that hideous bird too ugly to eat” she asked black wind

in answer, the bird let out a loud squawk

mulan’s stomach rumbled again she reached for her sword ugly didn’t necessarily mean not tasty she was pushing herself to her feet when she heard footsteps behind her startled, she turned, giving the bird a chance to hop to safety

“greetings!”

the sound of a man’s voice bounced off the trees wrapping her fingers around the hilt of her sword, mulan turned, the weapon raised in front of her two monks, with long beards and ragged cloaks, were looking at her from across the fire they appeared to be much older than her, their faces weathered with age one’s skin and hair were darker, while the other had a lighter plexion behind them was a pathetic-looking donkey

“be at ease, my friend,” the monk with the darker hair said “we are simply monks traveling the world, doing good deeds to ensure happiness and keep chaos at bay” the other monk nodded and flashed her a smile mulan’s face remained stony the dark-haired man went on, pointing at the smiling monk “this is brother ramtish i am brother skatch we bring you food and fellowship”

food

just the word itself made mulan’s mouth water and when the two monks brought the food out, any remaining fear vanished dropping her weapon, she grabbed a plate and some rice and sat down despite the overwhelming urge to shovel all of it in her mouth at once, she heard her mother’s voice in her head, telling her to eat slowly, with grace

but mother was never on the verge of starving

, mulan thought, though she did as she had been taught

watching her, ramtish chuckled turning, he looked at skatch “i think he’s the most polite starving person i’ve ever seen”

skatch nodded “yes, he is a gentleman of remarkably good manners” he reached toward his bag “brother ramtish, i say we celebrate this repast with a taste of wine”

mulan stifled a smile she had a feeling the good brothers liked to celebrate—a lot but they had been referring to her as a man thus far, so if their celebration allowed her to remain anonymous, she would look the other way but then skatch poured a drink and offered it to her

“thank you,” mulan said, shaking her head “but i do not drink”

“a soldier who doesn’t drink” skatch repeated “brother ramtish, there’s something peculiar about our dining panion”

mulan stopped chewing, her heartbeat quickening as both monks turned and gazed at her searchingly

skatch went on, “does he look like any soldier you’ve ever seen”

“he does not,” ramtish answered

mulan swallowed the rest of the rice that now felt like rocks in her stomach then, clearing her throat, she tried to explain away their doubts “well, technically,” she began, being sure to keep her voice low, “i am not a soldier yet this is my father’s sword and armor” she pointed to both “i am a conscript for the imperial army in the fight against the northern invaders”

skatch’s eyes narrowed but he nodded “yes, the northern invaders,” he said, taking a deep drink from his cup “led by bri khan we heard they were back”

“he was angry before they killed him,” ramtish said, taking his own drink with a chuckle “imagine how furious he is now”

the two monks shared another laugh, and another drink, before skatch returned his attention to mulan she had, in the meantime, scooted farther away but the clearing was small there wasn’t much room for her to move “so, what’s your name, soldier-to-be” skatch asked

“i represent the hua family,” mulan answered

“you don’t have a first name” skatch probed mulan frowned it was clear the monk was not going to let this go she ran through the boys in her village before settling on a name “my first name is jun,” she told him

“well, hua jun,” skatch said, stretching out the name, “i’m going to be honest with you i can’t see you lasting a day in the army you’re going to be eaten alive” from where he sat, ramtish nodded in agreement “if you’re going to be a soldier, you’ve got to be a man”

mulan’s breath hitched in her throat and she hoped her cheeks weren’t flushing red “what makes you think i’m not a man”

skatch laughed “you act like a boy,” he answered he mimicked her careful placement of food in her mouth “you’ve got to look like a man, smell like a man, act like a man!”

the breath escaped her lungs in a whoosh as she realized her secret was still safe unaware of her thoughts, the monk began to tromp around the fire mulan bit back a smile she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d pounded on his chest and yelled for effect still, what he was saying was intriguing, and something she had not given much thought to “how does a man act” she asked

“for one thing, he doesn’t eat like a woman” once again, skatch pretended to be her, daintily picking at a grain of rice “men eat like it’s the last meal they’ll ever have” this time, he mimed shoveling food into his face, even lapping his tongue at the air as though licking a bowl mulan had to stop herself from grimacing he looked like a pig