CHAPTER FIVE:
MAN OUT OF YOU
THE SUN WAS slowly rising, the sky a bright yellow-ish orange. Y/n slept peacefully in her tent, or as peaceful as she could be. Her tent happened to be far away from everyone else's, as everyone in this camp already didn't like her.
Cri-Kee slept in her shoes, using her sock as a blanket. Suddenly, Mushu grabs ahold of the cricket, twisting his antennas around before the insect makes an alarm type noise as the dragon puts Cri-Kee close to Y/n's ear in hopes of waking her up, which she does.
"Alright! Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Come on. Hup, hup, hup." Mushu ushers, knocking on her head.
Y/n groans in response, pulling her head under the blanket. However, Mushu pulled the whole blanket off of her, causing the girl to shiver as she reaches out for it with eyes closed, but it was nowhere near her.
"Get your clothes on. Get ready. Got breakfast for ya." Mushu continues.
The girl sits up, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes as Mushu hops up on her knee, holding a bowl in his hand as he wore a small pink piece of cloth to use as an apron.
"Look, you get porridge, and it's happy to see you." Mushu informs as he holds a bowl of porridge to her, revealing two eggs as eyes and a piece of bacon as a mouth. Cri-Kee suddenly pops up from the porridge. "Get outta there! You gonna make people sick."
"Am I late?" Y/n asks.
Mushu shoves some porridge in her mouth. "No time to talk. Now remember, it's your first day of training, so listen to your teacher and no fighting, play nice with the other kids, unless one of the other kids wanna fight, then you have to kick the other kid's butt."
"But I don't wanna kick the other kid's butt." Y/n states, mouth full of porridge.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Mushu scolds. "Now let's see your war face." Y/n only stares at him, her cheeks chubby as it was still full of porridge. "I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover. Come on! Scare me, girl."
The dragon tosses the bowl to the ground, grabbing ahold of Y/n's collar as she swallows the porridge before growling at him, making him fall back on the ground.
"Yeah, that's my tough-looking warrior. That's what I'm talking about." Mushu praises, tying her hair into a bun. "Now, get out there and make me proud."
Just then, a neighing fills their ears. The two look over, seeing Y/n's horse looking inside the tent while Y/n tiredly gets on her clothing.
"What do you mean the troops just left?" Mushu questions.
Y/n's eyes widen. "They what?"
Quickly, she rolls out of her tent, leaving Mushu inside as she runs off, not hearing Mushu call to her about her sword as he held it in his claws. He stops as he watches her run off.
"My little baby, off to destroy people." Mushu observes, whimpering.
Y/n continues running, soon finding a large group of men standing near camp. All the man laughed together as Chi-Fu walked around, trying to settle them down.
Ling suddenly hits Yao's shoulder when he notices Y/n. "Looks like our new friend slept in this morning." Y/n walks over. "Hello, Ping. Are ya hungry?"
"Yeah, cause I owe you a knuckle sandwich." Yao adds, gripping her collar and holding his fist up.
Milan pushes him slightly. "Come on, Yao. Knock it off."
"Oh, come on, Milan. Why can't you just learn to have fun?" Ling asks.
"Do you really think this is all for fun?" Milan questions back with narrowed eyes, then glancing to Yao. "Let him go."
Obeying, Yao let's go of Y/n's collar. "Sorry, kid."
"Soldiers!" A voice calls.
All look over, seeing Shang walking over. Quickly, they form a line, standing tall and straight as best as they could. Y/n couldn't help but lean over, taking a glance at Milan, who held a blank expression as he looked straight ahead.
"You will assemble swiftly and silently every morning. Anyone who acts otherwise will answer to me." Shang tells the soldiers, grabbing a bow and arrows.
"Ooh, tough guy." Yao comments.
"Yao." Shang begins, grabbing an arrow and putting it into his bow.
All the other men, including Y/n, step back when they see their captain aim the arrow at Yao. However, Shang moves it upwards, shooting the arrow on a rather large wooden pillar.
"Thank you for volunteering. Retrieve the arrow." Shang orders.
Yao cracks his knuckles. "I'll get that arrow, pretty boy, and I'll do it with my shirt on." The man walks over to the pillar.
"One moment. You seem to be missing something." Shang stops him, grabbing weights from Chi-Fu and placing them around Yao's wrists. "This represents discipline, and this represents strength. You need both to reach the arrow."
Yao looks up, starting to climb, only to slip back down. Many other men tried to accomplish it, even Y/n, who landed on her bottom. Milan was the closest who had gotten to the arrow, but fell halfway through.
"We've got a long way to go." Shang murmurs to himself.
The captain turns around, grabbing bamboo sticks and tossing them to all the soldiers. Y/n, who was at the end of the line, reaches out for hers but Yao grabs her instead, then tripping her to the ground with the stick. Milan elbows the man, grabbing the stick from Yao's hand and tossing it onto Y/n's stomach without a care, causing her to grunt a little.
SHANG:
"Let's get down to business,
To defeat the Huns."
All the soldiers watch in shock as Shang uses his stick to hit two glass pots he had thrown in the air, breaking them in mid-air as he twists around.
"Did they send me daughters
When I asked for sons?"
Coming up from behind Y/n, Ling puts a scorpion underneath her shirt, the girl moving around, accidentally hitting all the other soldiers, nailing Milan right in the gut. All the man groan and grunt as they fall to the ground while Y/n continues to frantically move.
"You're the saddest bunch I ever met.
But you can bet before we're through."
Shang walks behind Y/n, getting hit in the gut by her stick. Eventually, she stops moving as she turns around, facing the captain, who takes the stick away from her while glaring at her.
"Mister, I'll make a man out of you."
🗡
Now in the forest, all the soldiers watched as Shang threw tomatoes up in the air, using three arrows to shoot them all in the circles that were marked on the tree.
"Tranquil as a forest.
But on fire within."
All the man now tried to do the same as their captain, trying to shoot the tomatoes against the tree. The only person that was able to do three in a row, was Milan. Shang pats the boy's back with a slight proud smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Mushu appears out of the bag full of arrows, placing a tomato on Y/n's arrow jus as Shang walks over, narrowing his eyes on the girl upon seeing the food on her arrow instead of the tree. In reply, Y/n smiles sheepishly.
🗡
The group all now stood at a cliff, Milan near the edge, holding a stick with a bucket of water balancing on top of his head. Milan had been the only person doing the best out of all the soldiers, getting everything perfect just like Shang, that's why he was standing there.
All the soldiers throw stones at him, Shang watching as Milan easily dodges them, hitting the stones away with the stick in his hand while also keeping a balance of the bucket of water on top of his head.
"Once you find your center,
You are sure to win."
It was now Y/n's turn. The girl stumbled as she tried to keep the bucket of water balanced. Yao and Ling smirked viscously, tossing the stones up and down.
"You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot.
And you haven't got a clue."
As she moved, using the stick to try and hit the stones away, the bucket lands on her head, water soaking all of her clothes just as she hits a stone with the stick, the stone hitting Chien-Po in the stomach, who didn't seem affected by it. Sheepishly, she takes the bucket off, meeting Milan's eyes.
🗡
Yao and Y/n stood side by side as they watched Shang make a karate chop like motion into the small river they stood in, that went up to about their shins. The captain brings his hand back out, holding a fish in it.
"Somehow, I'll make a man out of you."
The two do the same thing, however, Y/n held onto a foot. A rather big foot, may I say. Looking down, she sees Yao looking back up at her through the water while he blew bubbles underneath the river. Scrunching up her face, she carefully places his foot back beneath the water.
🗡
Both Chien-Po and Yao ran across a field, dodging bullets with slight scared expressions on their faces.
CHIEN-PO:
"I'm never gonna catch my breath."
YAO:
"Say goodbye to those who knew me."
Just as Yao falls to the ground, an arrow that was on fire lands on his butt, causing it to go on fire as well as he screams out.
🗡
Ling stood by himself in front of a stone table-like object. Using motions with his hands, he slams his face down on the stone, then bringing it back up, bruises covering his face.
LING:
"Boy, was I a fool in school
For cutting gym."
🗡
Milan and Y/n fought against one another as Shang stood off to the side, watching them fight with his arms crossed. Milan twists around, his fist meeting Y/n's face which sends her back against a tree, where Mushu and Cri-Kee were at.
MUSHU:
"This guy's got them scared to death."
As Mushu twists a towel covered in water all over the girl, she looks back up, her right eye bruised from all the training. Her gaze watches Milan shake hands with Shang, the two seeming to get along as Milan was the best out of the soldiers.
Y/N:
"Hope he doesn't see right through me."
🗡
All the soldiers carefully walked on pillars that stood in a river. Chien-Po was the first out of all of them, a look of fear on his face as he stopped himself from going any further.
CHIEN-PO:
"Now I really wish that I knew how to swim."
🗡
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"We must be swift as a coursing river."
Shang blew off a bomb, the bomb hitting a target. All the other soldiers followed in suit, trying to hit the target, only for the bombs to land around them.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"With all the force of a great typhoon."
'Casually' walking past Y/n, Ling peaks with one eye as he kicks the girl's stand of her bomb, the bomb landing on the ground. Y/n hugs it, eyes widening when she notices the rope go off, the bomb moving upwards, hitting one of the tents back at camp.
ALL:
"Be a man."
SHANG:
"With all the strength of a raging fire.
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon."
🗡
All the men now walked along a large cliff, Shang and Milan in the front as them and the other soldiers carried bamboo sticks over their shoulders, weights on either side of them. Looking to the captain, Chi-Fu points behind them.
"Time is racing toward us,
Till the Huns arrive."
Milan and Shang follow his gaze, seeing Y/n very, very far behind the group of men. Before Shang could do anything, Milan was already jogging over.
Meanwhile, Y/n collapses to the ground, Mushu and Cri-Kee running over, trying to get the girl back up to her feet. However, they quickly hide when Milan bends down, grabbing her stick and placing it over his shoulders.
"Heed my every order
And you might survive."
And with that, he runs off, leaving Y/n, Mushu and Cri-Kee behind.
🗡
Now back at camp, the night sky replacing it's original blue, Y/n sadly walked through the camp as Shang walked up to her, holding onto the strap that her horse was connected to and places it in her hand.
"You're unsuited for the rage of war.
So pack up, go home, you're through.
How could I make a man out of you?"
Just as the girl begins to walk off, she stops and looks up, seeing the arrow was still lodged on top of the wooden pillar Shang had shot up there on their first day of training with the soldiers.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"We must be swift as a coursing river."
Holding onto the ropes of the weights, Y/n starts to climb but ends up falling on her butt to the ground. With a determined look, she gets back up, wrapping the weights all around the pillar as she begins to climb again, getting higher each time.
🗡
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"With all the force of a great typhoon."
In the morning, all the male soldiers woke up and walked out of their tents, only for their eyes to widen in shock as they watched Y/n still climbing up the pillar, almost halfway there.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"With all the strength of a raging fire.
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon."
Y/n suddenly slips a little, causing the men to gasp while she clenches her jaw, continuing the rest of the way up as best as she could. Meanwhile, Milan walks out of his tent just as an arrow lands a few feet in front of him, catching his attention.
Looking up, his brown eyes land on Y/n, who was sitting at the top of the pillar, holding a small smile on her face as she looked down at all the men, who were cheering for her as she was the only one who had been able to make it up there.
🗡
Back in the forest, Y/n pressed her foot against the wooden board below her feet, watching as many tomatoes fly up in their air. As quick as she could, she gets all the tomatoes with her arrows against the tree, landing right in the circles that were marked.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
🗡
The soldiers found themselves going up a hill, carrying the bamboo sticks with the weights at the sides over their shoulders again. Y/n ran in front of all the men, not noticing Milan's stare on her.
SHANG:
"We must be swift as a coursing river."
🗡
Milan an Y/n stood in front of each other as they fought, the girl dodging the boy's hits as she spins around, swinging her leg up and hitting the boy in the face, making him fall back on the ground.
Holding his jaw, Milan couldn't help but glare at the 'boy' in front of him, watching as Shang pats Y/n's shoulder with a little smile. He didn't like this. He wanted to be better. He wanted to be stronger. For Y/n.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"With all the force of a great typhoon."
🗡
Once again, Shang grabbed bamboo sticks, tossing them to each of the soldiers. Y/n held her hand out for hers again, only for Yao to catch it once again. The girl stares at him, expecting for the man to trip her, only for him to hand the stick to her with a small smile.
Y/n gives a little smile back as she takes it from him.
ALL:
"Be a man!"
SHANG:
"With all the strength of a raging fire."
🗡
In a line, all the soldiers let out cries as they used the sticks, swinging them around in the air, being careful as to not hit anyone around them.
"Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!"
Simultaneously, the soldiers jump in the air, kicking their legs out as cries escape their mouths.