Mulan: The Unwithering Blossom
By Dynasty
Author¡¦s Note : Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and helpful with suggestions and ideas,
you know who you are. J
Chapter 5 : Back-up
As Shang rode off, Fa Li and Grandmother Fa watched him with sad eyes. He had absolutely no idea what he was
going into, and it could be something beyond anything they had ever imagined. Mulan loved her father dearly,
and they both knew she would go to great lengths to protect him.
"Why¡¦s everybody up so early?" came a sleepy voice. Fa Li and Grandmother Fa turned around to see Mei Yin,
all dressed up for a new day although she still looked sleepy. She rubbed her eyes, then yawned.
"Mulan is gone," Fa Li said simply.
"What?!" Mei Yin shrieked. "Where to?"
Grandmother Fa shook her head sadly. "We don¡¦t know," she answered. "Where is your father?"
"Right here," Wan Shan announced, appearing in the sitting room fully clothed and ready for the day. "What¡¦
s going on?"
Fa Li and Grandmother Fa looked at each other. They weren¡¦t sure what to tell him since they themselves had
a very blurry picture of what was going on. Mulan had also told them not to tell anyone, or something close to
that.
"We¡¦re not sure," Fa Li said. "And there isn¡¦t much to say. All we can do now is just wait and pray." With
that the two Fa women turned around and went back into the house, leaving the two Wans standing there
confused.
Wan Shan looked at her daughter. "Something is going on," he said. "Where is Fa Zhou?" Mei Yin shrugged.
Wan Shan stepped out of the house and headed to the stable where is own horse was. "I¡¦m going into the
village to report this. Stay here."
Mei Yin nodded obediently as her father rode off. How strange. Mulan had suddenly run off for no apparent
reason. She kind of expected that for someone as unpredictable as Mulan, but still, it was rude to not even say
goodbye to her. Perhaps Mulan just wanted to do something spontaneous, or perhaps something really was
wrong.
Mei Yin slid on her slippers and walked across the garden to the Fa ancestor¡¦s temple. She wasn¡¦t a Fa, but
this was a good place as any other to pray for Mulan¡¦s protection. It looked quite serene, with numerous Fa
ancestor tablets around the small space and guardian statues near the ceiling.
Inside the small structure, Mei Yin dropped to her knees and prayed silently. Mulan was a good friend, no matter
how strange her ideas were. She shut her eyes and then bowed to the tablets before her.
She was so deep in thought she didn¡¦t notice one of the statues above her move ever so slightly. First an eye
opened, then the other. Then its claws started to twitch. Finally, the stone made way for colourful scales and life.
"It¡¦s good to be back!"
Mei Yin screamed. Her eyes flew open and she backed away, looking around frantically for the voice, but she
couldn¡¦t see anyone.
"Hey, Mulan! You in trouble again?" the voice came again, this time louder as ever.
"Who are you?" Mei Yin asked shakily. "Where are you?" Mei Yin looked around again and again, but still she
couldn¡¦t see anyone. The voice was so close¡K Suddenly something fell on her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! LIZAAAAAAAARD!" Mei Yin screamed and waved her arms frantically to
push the reptile away. The little red ¡¥lizard¡¦ jumped off Mei Yin and brushed himself off.
"I ain¡¦t no lizard, lady," it said. It looked Mei Yin up and down. "And you ain¡¦t Mulan."
Mei Yin couldn¡¦t speak.
"Speechless? I always did have that effect on women," it said, striking a pose. "Allow me to introduce myself. I
am the all-mighty all-powerful and not to mention devastatingly handsome guardian dragon of the Fa family :
Mushu." He waited for a response.
"Dragon?" Mei Yin echoed. She couldn¡¦t help but snicker. "Aren¡¦t you a little small?"
"You were still scared of me, weren¡¦t you?" Mushu asked. "Imagine how terrified you would have been if I
had been my real size." Mushu grinned.
Mei Yin felt herself relax. This little¡K dragon as he claimed he was had a charm and personality that she liked.
She smiled at the little thing and poked it in the stomach. "I¡¦m sure," she said teasingly. "So you¡¦re an
all-mighty and all-powerful guardian of the Fa family?"
"Sure am," Mushu said proudly. "It was I who helped Mulan get through the whole Hun-war thing a while back.
Not bad, eh?"
Mei Yin smiled lopsidedly. "Not bad at all, for an insect."
Suddenly a cricket jumped on her, squeaking for all it was worth. Mei Yin jerked back, and she could almost
swear the cricket was waving its front leg at her as if it were threatening her.
"That¡¦s Cric-kee," Mushu said. "Get down here, Cric-kee! Don¡¦t bug the lady!" He chuckled at his corny joke.
Cric-kee jumped down from Mei Yin and to Mushu¡¦s side, still chirping away. "I¡¦m sure the nice lady didn
¡¦t mean it as an insult, you oversensitive fly," Mushu told the cricket. "And what are you doing out of your
incense tray?"
"Mushu!" came a loud booming voice.
"Whoa, big fella!" Mushu said, putting his hands up in a surrender position. "Don¡¦t need to sneak up on me
like that, First Ancestor."
The First Ancestor sat there on his tablet, stick in hand and looking solemn as always. He looked down on the
little red dragon and sighed deeply. Even though Mushu did prove his worth and earned his position back as
Guardian, he still couldn¡¦t quite stand him and his free-lance ways.
"Mulan is heading off into trouble," First Ancestor said. "Since you have experience from working with her, I
appoint you the task of going after her."
"My Mulan just loves getting into fixes, doesn¡¦t she," Mushu groaned.
"Who are you talking to, Mushu?" Mei Yin asked.
Mushu pointed at the First Ancestor. "Don¡¦t you see him? The big dude who looks like he sure could use a
haircut?"
"She cannot see me," the First Ancestor told him. "Lucky thing, too. Who is she, anyway?"
"Hey, who are you?" Mushu asked her.
"My name is Wan Mei Yin," Mei Yin said.
The First Ancestor peered down on Mei Yin for a while. "She does resemble Mulan quite a bit, doesn¡¦t she,
Mushu?"
Mushu frowned. "Now you mention it, she does," Mushu agreed.
"I what?"
"Look like Mulan. Only with more make-up."
Mei Yin made a face but nodded. "I know. When we were kids people thought we were sisters." She frowned.
"Why?"
"Oh, nothing," Mushu said.
"Mushu!" the First Ancestor bellowed. "Get going and bring back Mulan safe and sound!"
"Don¡¦t I always?" Mushu said with a grin. "Come on, Cric-kee. Your mission should you choose to accept it is
to bring Mulan back home safe and sound. This temple will self-destruct in five seconds!" He ran out of the
temple with Cric-kee close behind, laughing out loud. "Ain¡¦t it great, Cric-kee? Finally get something to do
after being stuck in that darn place for months!"
Cric-kee chirped.
"What?" Mushu turned around and glared at Mei Yin. "Why are you following me?"
"Who said I was following you?" Mei Yin asked innocently.
"Keep your distance, sister, Guardian on duty here," Mushu said, shooing Mei Yin off. Cric-kee chirped, agreeing
with Mushu, and the two walked off. The dragon and the cricket walked off across the lawn, the dragon
humming the Mission:Impossible theme softly under his breath.
Mushu stopped walking. He looked at a small puddle nearby. The water rippled. Again. Cric-kee chirped, looking
up at Mushu.
"Dog! Run!" Mushu screamed and dashed off as Little Brother came pounding into the garden. Specks of saliva
flew everywhere. Mushu ran wildly through the bushes, away from the slobbering canine. Cric-kee jumped
around wildly but managed to find protection among high leaves on a tree.
Mushu continued to run. Wrong. His little running body became a target for Little Brother, who was yipping
close at his heels. Little Brother was catching up fast, and Mushu was panting like crazy.
"Get away from me! Mad dog! Mad dog! Call the cops we got a mad dog on the loose!" Mushu shouted, still
running frantically. Suddenly a huge shadow cast on top of Mushu, and he realised that Little Brother had leapt
onto him. Just before this huge weight of body landed on him, too arms scooped the dog away.
"Bad dog! Bad dog!" Mei Yin scolded. "Shoo!"
Mushu took a moment to catch his breath. Little Brother yipped and ran to the other side of the garden, birds
being his new target. Mei Yin put her hands on her hips satisfactorily.
"You¡K uh¡K didn¡¦t have to do that. I had everything under control. I am a Guardian, after all," Mushu said,
brushing himself off.
"Oh, you¡¦re so full of yourself," Mei Yin groaned. "Get going. I¡¦m having breakfast." Mei Yin turned her
heels and walked back to the house. Once she entered the sitting room, she saw Fa Li standing by an open chest, a
look of horror on her face.
"What¡¦s wrong?" Mei Yin asked.
"This chest," Fa Li whispered hoarsely. "We kept the sword of Shan-Yu in here. It¡¦s gone."
"Shan-Yu?" Mei Yin echoed. "The Shan-Yu?"
Fa Li nodded weakly. Mei Yin sunk to the floor, realisation creeping into her. Things were worse than she
thought. Her father had told her Shan-Yu had died, but then why was his sword gone? Maybe it was a follower,
but even so, it was just as bad.
"The Emperor¡¦s crest is gone, too," Fa Li told her, pointing to an open glass case above the chest.
She remembered the Guardian dragon outside, and she knew he had to know of this. Mei Yin stood up and ran
out of the room into the garden. There she saw Mushu and Cric-kee at the gateway of the house, ready to leave.
"Mushu! Shan-Yu¡¦s sword is gone!" she told him.
"Shan-Yu?" Mushu said, obviously shocked. "No way¡K I was there when we barbecued the guy."
"Just to warn you," Mei Yin said. "I think Mulan went to Xi¡¦an. The Emperor¡¦s crest was taken as well."
"Xi¡¦an?" Mushu echoed. "That¡¦s quite a long way. We¡¦d better speed this up, Cric-kee."
Mei Yin kneeled down so she could look at the two creatures better. "How are you going to get there?"
Mushu shrugged. "We¡¦ll hitch-hike."
Mei Yin felt her inside tremble. She loved Mulan as a sister, she had to help her in any way she could. She felt
confused, unsure of what to do. Perhaps this was what Mulan felt when she made her choice to go into the army
in her father¡¦s place.
"I¡¦ll take you there," Mei Yin announced. "My horse is fast, we can be there quickly."
"No way, sister, you are staying here!" Mushu said firmly. "This is official Guardian business." Cric-kee chirped
in agreement.
Mei Yin opened the stable doors. "No problem. I¡¦ll just go there and get back before sunset. I won¡¦t meddle
in whatever it is you¡¦re gonna do there."
Mushu and Cric-kee looked at each other. "Okay, make it quick."
Mei Yin nodded as she prepared her horse. Her father would surely object and she would receive a plentiful of
scoldings once she returned, but this was for Mulan. Mei Yin cringed. She didn¡¦t normally do things as
impromptu as this, but this was different. She sighed. The things she did for that troublesome friend of hers.
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