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as they arrived at the edge of a huge field, her eyes grew wide as she took in the sights and sounds of the huge army encampment banners flew above large tents surrounded by smaller ones the smell of cooking food wafted through the air, making mulan’s stomach rumble once again the sounds of horses’ hooves blended with clanging metal as soldiers practiced fighting large gates had been set up on the outskirts of the camp in front of them was a line of hundreds of men, all clutching conscription papers every few minutes, a dozen or so would be ushered through the gates and disappear inside the teeming encampment mulan watched, trying to make sense of the bustling scene in front of her it was like nothing she had seen before her eyes lingered on the future soldiers, each waiting their turn some were young, their faces eager, others old, their faces wise and drawn but they were all men
taking a deep breath, mulan pulled the donkey forward the phoenix, who had fallen asleep shortly into the ride, woke with a start seeing the encampment, she let out a squawk and jumped off the donkey, hopping over to some bushes for cover for the briefest of moments, mulan thought about following her but then she remembered the words on the sword
brave loyal true
she had to be brave now
throwing back her shoulders, mulan strode forward, silently thanking—and cursing—the monks for their “lesson” she took her place in line ahead of her were two young men, roughly her age one was chubby, his cheeks flushed he looked awkward and unfortable, and mulan couldn’t help feeling a wave of empathy she imagined her own cheeks were red, too—if not from embarrassment, then from the many hours she had spent traveling in the sun beside him was a taller conscript he said something to the larger boy and then laughed, revealing a sizable gap between his two front teeth that made him instantly look younger mulan stood quietly behind them, trying not to eavesdrop
just then, another young man, older by a few years it would seem, cut in front of her ignoring her grunt of protest, he stopped inches behind the two boys a long weed hung from the side of his mouth taking it out, he tickled the larger boy’s ear
“i’m cricket,” the boy was saying
“longwei,” the other conscript said, introducing himself
cricket nodded “my mother said i was born—” he stopped, lifting his hand to swat away the “insect” that was tickling his ear
behind him, the older conscript bit back a laugh another conscript joined him, pointing to the weed and miming for him to do it again mulan watched them with narrowed eyes cricket had done nothing to them what was the point of teasing him in such a way
unaware of the situation, cricket continued chatting his voice was friendly and open “she said i was born under an auspicious—” the tickling had grown more aggressive and cricket swatted harder this time only, instead of slapping a bug, he accidently slapped longwei
“ow!” he shouted, putting a hand to his cheek
behind them, the two bullies howled with laughter then, pushing cricket and longwei out of the way, they took their place in line the younger conscripts stumbled against each other, trying to keep their balance
sensing she was about to get tumbled into, mulan moved out of the way but she hadn’t seen the conscript who had e up beside her with a shout, she crashed into him, the impact knocking her to the ground
she lay still for a moment, trying to catch her breath then she saw a hand held out to her
“sorry, tadpole,” the conscript said “my mistake”
mulan tried to keep herself from blushing the young man in front of her was tall, lean, and very, very handsome his eyes were twinkling and kind
he offered his hand again
distracted by his good looks and the charming smile he was flashing at her, mulan almost, almost took his hand but then she stopped tadpole he had called her embarrassment, delayed, came rushing over her this was exactly what skatch had said would happen she wouldn’t be taken seriously
ignoring the outstretched hand, mulan scrambled to her feet then she reached for her sword but her hands were clammy and her fingers shaking, so what she had hoped would be a quick grab turned into a bumbling attempt to pull the sword from its belt she pulled it free and, lifting it in the air, pointed it at the other conscript’s throat just as skatch had done to her “insult me again,” she said, forcing her voice to go deep, “and you’ll taste the tip of my blade!”
instantly, all humor left the young man’s face before she even heard the swish of his sword, she felt its tip at her own throat mulan gulped she might have been a bit hasty in her actions skatch hadn’t told her what to do if the other person also had a weapon
“lower your sword,” the conscript said
“or what” mulan had been trying for tough, but even to her, her voice sounded flimsy
mulan felt cricket’s and longwei’s eyes on her, as well as the bullies’ she could sense them looking back and forth between her and the young man across from her she heard someone whisper “honghui,” and a few others repeat the name her arm shook and she wanted to drop her sword, but she couldn’t not until the other conscript, or rather honghui, dropped his
out of the corner of her eye, she saw another person approaching it was an older man, his face lined with age and experience there was a flash of movement before mulan could blink, her arm was twisted behind her back a moment later the sword was removed from her hand and her arm dropped to her side next to her, honghui rubbed his own arm, his eyes on his weapon
“i am your manding officer—mander tung!” the man shouted “fighting will not be tolerated am i clear” he stared at the young man, his eyes icy
“yes, mander,” the other conscript said immediately
the mander turned to mulan and repeated the question mulan’s voice stuck in her throat she nodded
“with your voice, soldier,” mander tung ordered
“yes, mander,” mulan said
across from her, honghui took back his sword and glared at mulan she had messed up already she was gaining enemies, not allies
handing mulan her sword, the mander hesitated, his gaze catching on the engraving on its blade recognition flashed over his face and he looked up at mulan with renewed interest “what’s your name, soldier” he asked
“hua jun, mander,” mulan said, the fib gliding off her tongue
“is this your family’s sword” mander tung asked
mulan nodded and then remembered that the mander wanted words “it belongs to my father, hua zhou,” she said
there was a moment as the mander looked back and forth between the sword and mulan, his face still but his eyes flickering with emotion then, noticing her bare feet, he nodded toward a tent behind them “go get yourself a pair of boots,” he said before mulan could respond, mander tung had marched off, disappearing into the hustle and bustle of the encampment
mulan watched him go when he was out of sight, she let out the breath she had been holding the mander could have had her punished or sent her away instead, he had seemed to take an interest in her—or at least her family name while she wasn’t thrilled that she already had enemies among the other conscripts, the encounter at least meant she was getting boots which, she thought, looking down at her bloody feet, couldn’t have e at a better time
mulan gathered her things and headed toward the clothing tent the more distance she could get from honghui, the better in another world and another setting, mulan had a feeling cricket would’ve been a friend but she wasn’t going to stick around to find out if her hunch was right she would get her boots, and then she would think about the mess she had gotten herself into she had been so worried about surviving the war that she hadn’t even thought about surviving boot camp