The Avalanche

The march into the Tung Shao Pass was a brutal, freezing slog. The Imperial Army trudged through knee-deep snow, the wind howling through the jagged peaks like wounded spirits.

Mulan, still desperately playing the role of Ping, was exhausted. Her muscles screamed under the weight of her armor and the heavy supply pack. But worse than the physical toll was the psychological one. Every time the column halted, every time she wiped the freezing sweat from her brow, she felt my eyes on her.

I rode near the front on a massive black stallion, wrapped in a thick fur cloak, watching my broken soldier march. She wouldn't look at me. The shame of what she had done under the table the night before was a heavy chain around her neck, dragging her down.

When we reached the burned village, the reality of the war hit the recruits. The devastation was absolute. Captain Li Shang found his father's helmet in the snow, his stoic facade cracking under the weight of his grief.

The men were silent, terrified.

I rode up beside Shang, looking at the charred ruins. "Grief later, Captain," I said coldly. "We are in enemy territory. Move your men out."

We didn't make it to the ridge.

A flaming arrow hissed through the air, embedding itself in the snow just feet from the supply wagons. Suddenly, explosions rocked the mountainside.

The Huns had found us.

Thousands of them crested the snowy ridge, a tidal wave of fur, steel, and bloodlust. At their head was Shan-Yu, a massive, terrifying warlord with eyes like a hawk. He didn't issue an order; he simply raised his sword and charged down the mountain.

"Prepare to fight!" Shang roared, drawing his blade. "Aim the cannons!"

The recruits panicked. Cannons misfired. Arrows flew wide. The Hun cavalry was closing the distance terrifyingly fast. We were outnumbered ten to one.

"Aim the last cannon at Shan-Yu!" Shang ordered, holding his ground bravely.

But Mulan didn't obey.

She saw something the Captain didn't. She saw the heavy snowpack hanging precariously over the mountain peak above the Hun army. She wanted to be a hero. She needed to prove to herself that she was more than just the High Inspector's secret whore.

She grabbed the rocket. She sprinted away from the line, running directly toward the charging horde.

"Ping! Come back!" Shang yelled.

I didn't yell. I watched her run. The sheer, **** bravery of it was intoxicating. She planted the rocket in the snow, striking the flint.

Shan-Yu saw her. The warlord spurred his horse forward, his massive black sword raising for a lethal strike.

The rocket fired. It bypassed Shan-Yu completely, streaking up into the sky and slamming into the mountain peak.

BOOM.

There was a second of absolute silence. Then, the mountain broke.

A massive wall of white **** cascaded down the slope. The avalanche swallowed the Hun army whole.

But Shan-Yu wasn't done. With a roar of fury, he slashed downward as he rode past Mulan.

The blade cut through her armor, biting deep into her side. Mulan screamed, collapsing into the snow as the avalanche roared closer.

I moved. I spurred my stallion forward, galloping into the chaos. I leaned down from the saddle, grabbing Mulan by the back of her armor just as the wall of snow hit us, dragging her up onto the horse and riding hard for the safety of a rocky outcropping.

When the snow finally settled, the landscape was completely altered. The Huns were buried. The Imperial Army had survived.

I halted my horse behind a massive boulder, hidden from the main ****. I dropped Mulan onto the snowy ground. She groaned, clutching her side. Her hands were instantly covered in bright, steaming red blood.

"Ping!" Shang’s voice echoed over the snow as he and the trio of Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po rushed over. "Are you alright? That was the bravest thing I've ever seen!"

Shang fell to his knees beside her. Mulan was pale, her breathing shallow.

"He's wounded," Shang said, panic in his voice. "Medic! We need a medic!"

A soldier with a medical kit started running over.

This was the moment. In any other timeline, the medic would cut away her armor, expose her bound chest, and the secret would be out. She would be disgraced, cast out to freeze in the snow.

I stepped forward, my imposing figure blocking the medic.

"Halt," I commanded, my voice echoing off the rocks.

Shang looked up, confused. "Inspector? He's bleeding out. We need to cut the armor away."

"The Imperial Army does not have the medical supplies to deal with a wound of this magnitude out in the open," I lied smoothly, exuding absolute authority. "As High Inspector, I carry the Emperor's personal healing salves. I will tend to the boy."

"But sir-" the medic started.

I shot him a glare that could freeze fire. "Do you question me? Secure the perimeter, Captain Li! Find shelter for the men. I will handle the hero."

Shang hesitated, looking at his bleeding soldier. But military conditioning won out. He saluted. "Yes, High Inspector. You heard him! Move out! Secure the ridge!"

The men dispersed, leaving me alone with Mulan behind the rocks.

She was shivering violently, the blood loss and the freezing temperatures rapidly draining her life ****. She looked up at me, her dark eyes terrified, her hand clutching her bleeding side.

"You..." she gasped, coughing slightly. "Why..."

"Because you belong to me, Mulan," I whispered, kneeling beside her. I scooped her up into my arms. Her head lolled against my chest. "And I don't let other men play with my toys. Especially not when they're broken."

I carried her away from the army's encampment, finding a shallow, secluded ice cave tucked into the mountainside. The wind howled outside, but inside, it was quiet.

I laid her down on my heavy fur cloak. She was fading fast.

"Hold still," I murmured.

I drew my knife.

I didn't bother with the buckles. I sliced through the leather straps of her armor, pulling the heavy plates away. Her tunic was soaked in blood.

I cut that away, too.

Finally, I reached the blood-soaked linen binding around her chest.

She whimpered, trying to weakly cover herself. "No... it hurts..."

RIP.

I cut the binding loose, exposing her bare, trembling breasts and the deep, jagged slash running along her ribs. The cold air hit her skin, making her nipples contract into tight peaks despite the agony she was in.

She was completely naked from the waist up, bleeding, shivering, and trapped in an ice cave with the predator who owned her.

I summoned a faint, warm glow of healing magic to my fingertips, just enough to stop the bleeding, but not enough to erase the pain completely. I wanted her to feel this. I wanted her to remember who kept her alive.

"You were very brave today, Fa Mulan," I said softly, trailing my glowing, blood-stained fingers over the curve of her breast, dangerously close to the wound. "But bravery has a price."