CHAPTER SIX:
BETRAYAL BETWEEN FRIENDS
The sun was hiding behind the clouds high in the sky, the bright light trying to shine down on the saddened people that rode along their animals. The Emperor's daughters could be seen on an animal together as the animal walked in-between Milan and Shang, who were at the front on their horses, and Y/n, Chien-Po, Yao and Ling, who were all behind them, the men having to walk on their feet while Y/n was on her horse.
The demeanor between nine people were devastation as none of them said a word. The only sound that could be heard that only Y/n could hear was the sound of Mushu yawning as he popped his head up from the pack on the side of her horse, a pleased smile evident on his face. As she walked by the princesses on the animal they were on, Y/n slowly looked up from where she was looking down as she stopped on her horse, meeting Milan's dark eyes.
The... couple stared at each other sadly before Milan was the first to look away, slowly riding in one direction as there were two different ways while Y/n went in the other direction, a rock-like wall between them. The princesses followed Y/n while the three other soldiers followed Shang and Milan.
"I see Pretty Boy isn't talking to you. And you're not talking to Pretty Boy." Mushu points out with a smile, making her look at him. "Well, you know you can always talk to me."
Not saying a word to her dragon friend, the girl looks back down at her hands as she continues along forward with the princesses following behind her. As the minutes go by, it was silent between the four females before they came to a stop when the sisters stopped beside the female soldiers that they secretly looked up to after what she did to save China a month or so ago.
"We're so sorry for what we've done, L/n Y/n." Ting Ting apologizes.
"You inspired us to follow our hearts." Mei adds, clutching the stuffed panda Yao gave her. "And we repay you by ruining your relationship."
Y/n shakes her head. "No, you just opened my eyes to how broken it was. I'm indebted to you, Mei."
With a small, sad smile, Mei reaches over and places her hand on top of Y/n's as they share a sad smile before they were venturing forward again, meeting up with the men again. The girl found herself slowly riding behind all of them as she reached down to her chest, grabbing the pendant of the necklace her parents gave her, remembering that Milan had the other one. Looking down at the necklace only made her even more sad than she already was.
"Y/n, what do you say to a little pick-me-up?" Mushu asks, breaking the silence.
"My father said differences can make you stronger. He didn't realize that Milan and I are just too different." Y/n states, not even looking at him as she continued to stare at the necklace. "And neither did I, apparently."
"Well, you know you always got me. The old team, right?" Mushu reminds as he crawls in front of her, placing his small hands on top of her bigger one.
Y/n smiles a bit at him. "Oh. You're always looking out for me, Mushu."
Mushu chuckles nervously. "Well, just doing the best I can."
"Really, I just don't know what I'd do without you. You're the best friend I've ever had." Y/n admits, softly petting his head.
Mushu shivers before letting out a slight shout. "Oh, I can't stand it no more. The only thing wrong with you and Milan is me. I'm the one that got between you."
"What are you talking about? It's not like you made the carriage go into the river." Y/n states, squinting her eyes on the dragon.
"Now, that was an accident. Following several attempts at on purpose." Mushu tells her.
"And it wasn't you outside Milan's tent." Y/n continues, getting more and more suspicious.
Mushu gulps. "You know how I gab."
"And you woke him up after I left?" Y/n questions in disbelief.
"It wasn't easy neither. That man can sleep." Mushu recalls.
Y/n narrows her eyes on him. "Mushu, what did you do?"
"Well, I was banging pots and pans." Mushu begins, banging his hands together a bit.
"No. What did you do?" Y/n repeats more firmly as she gets in his face, making him back up.
"You was getting married. Everything was gonna change. I was gonna lose you. And my pedestal." Mushu cries out.
Y/n's eyes widen. "You mean, you got between Milan and me so you could keep your job?"
"I'm sorry." Mushu apologizes.
"What you did was unforgivable." Y/n sneers, turning her head away.
"But you and Milan are so different." Mushu reminds.
"Wait a second. Not as different as I thought. All those problems, they weren't us. They were you." Y/n realizes with a smile, but it faded again when she glared at the dragon. "Oh, I've got to tell Milan, tell him I love him."
Quickly, she rode up to the group as they had gotten a bit far, ignoring Mushu as she shoved him in her pack before calling out to Milan. The man started looking over his shoulder at the sound of his voice escaping past her lips, but his head snapped back forward when he saw an arrow lodge into the wall just right in front of his face.
Quickly realizing it was an ambush as bandits started landing down near them, Y/n, Milan and Shang were quick to hop off their horses as Yao, Chien-Po and Ling all helped the princesses off the animal they were on, rushing off with some bandits following after them. Y/n stopped in-between Milan and Shang, promising them she had their back before they were fighting against the bandits around them.
They dodged their attempted swings from their swords as the girl out of the three soldiers jumped away, kicking the bandit in the chest. Rushing to some rope they had climbed down, she grabs ahold of it, jumping up and kicking her feet off the wall, swinging around and kicking the bandit in the face, sending him down to the ground as he knocked unconscious. At the sound of Mei's voice crying out for help, the three soldiers share a panicked look before they rushed in the direction of the princess' sound.
The sight of Yao, Ling and Chien-Po soon came into their view as they fought off the bandits while Ting Ting and Su threw rocks at the bandits from above. Meanwhile, Mei was trying to get the bandit's grip off of her, only to be thrown over his shoulder as him and another bandit rushed off, the princess crying out for help as the soldiers fought the other bandits.
When Yao went to go after them, Shang stopped him before looking to Y/n and Milan, motioning them to follow as they were quick to rush off in hopes of saving Mei. Frantically, they were running on a wooden bridge as it shook where Milan was quick to tackle the bandit who had ahold of Mei down, making him let go of the princess, who rushed over to Y/n. The princess rushed to the others, running into Yao's arms as Shang and Milan continued to fight off the bandits before they were pushed onto the bridge.
Y/n rushed over to them, helping them up before they were going after the bandits, only to stop when one of them used his sword to cut one side of the rope of the bridge. The three soldiers all tried balancing so they wouldn't fall off just when the bandit cut the rope again before running off, making Y/n and Milan fall as Shang had been able to grab ahold of the actual bridge before he could fall.
He had tried to grab ahold of his two friends, but Y/n was quick to grab ahold of the rope dangling down that was connected to the bridge with one hand and grab Milan's hand with the other, leaving him at the bottom as she struggled to hold both. Just then, the rope broke a bit more, making the couple shout in fear as they fell even more but the rope was still dangling.
"Milan, hang on." Y/n calls down to her lover.
Milan shakes his head. "It won't hold us both."
"It will." Y/n assures, tears now running down her cheeks as the rope broke a bit more. "It will, Milan."
"Y/n. I'm sorry." Milan mumbles just loud enough for her to hear.
As she tried to keep a tight grip on his hand, his hand had slipped from hers, forcing Y/n to watch the love of her life fall down to his death, his name escaping past her lips by a scream. Shang and everyone else's eyes widened as they watched the lovers hold out their hands in each other's direction as Milan continued to fall until he was out of sight.
🗡
Like usual, the night sky was up and out as rain was pouring down on the civilians in China, the rumble of thunder being heard all around, the flash of lightning adding to it as it came every few seconds that went by. The three princesses and the three soldiers found themselves beneath a slight cave as to not get wet from the pouring rain that fell down while they held frowns, Mei even crying into Yao's shoulder.
Shang found himself standing in front of them a bit, the rain hitting him roughly as he sadly stared at his friend's figure by the end of the bridge. Both Mushu and Cri-Kee peaked out from the pack they would hide in, frowning as they shared a glance before looking to Y/n's figure. The said girl stood at the end of the bridge, staring down at the sword in her hands as another flash of lightning and rumble of thunder came around. Her teary eyes stared into her own reflection from the blade of the sword, her cheeks stained with tears as they continued to fall down.
Just as another rumble of thunder happened, along with lightning flashing, her own reflection from the blade of the sword turned into his own, his dark eyes staring into her own e/c ones. The others all watched and listened as she cried out Milan's name while stabbing the sword into the ground, falling to her knees.
She didn't care if the pouring rain was making her hair and clothes all soaked. She didn't care about anything other than the boy she's loved ever since she was a kid. The soldiers and princesses watched as Shang was slowly walking forward, deep frown still evident on his face as he knelt down beside his friend, her sobs ringing through his eardrums before he slowly wrapped his arms around her sobbing figure, but she didn't pay any mind to that. This lasted for a few hours and Shang had went to get warmth a bit after.
The sun was slowly rising up and Y/n hadn't moved from her spot, but her crying and sobs had came to a stop as she had her head lowered, hands gripping the handle of the sword until her knuckles were white, but she didn't care. She didn't pay any mind to the footsteps slowly heading over to her as the others all shared a glance, frowns still evident on their faces. Shang glances at the princesses, seeing them slowly nod at him.
"Y/n, they're ready to go through with the wedding." Shang speaks up in a soft tone, gesturing to the princesses.
"No. They're orders are to take care of each other." Y/n protests in a firm tone.
"But..." Chien-Po begins, trailing off.
Him and the others all look to Shang, who glances between them as he nods a bit, seeming to agree with the girl. They watch as she stands up, her hands releasing from the handle of the sword as she still held her back to them.
"Losing Milan will not be meaningless. No matter what it takes, I'm finishing this mission." Y/n declares with a hard gaze.