what a warrior would do | a Mulan au

10| a quiver of arrows

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General Kozu silently sharpened the blade in his hand while his army trudged here and there through the caravansary they had set up in the marshes. He felt the stone warriors stop abruptly. He paused in his work and lifted his cold eyes to see two men dressed in armor being dragged towards him by their necks.

"Imperial scouts!" announced the warrior who'd caught them, throwing them at his general's feet.

"Kozu . . ." one of the soldiers breathed in disbelief.

The army head gave a last swipe of rock against metal before aiming the sword at the man's throat. "Congratulations, gentlemen," he spoke in a taunting manner. "You've found the Stone Army."

The other stone warriors sneered at the scouts, some laughing and some scowling. A few even closed in on them, cracking their rocky knuckles and extracting their weapons. They didn't attack only for the sake of not receiving permission from their general.

"The Emperor will stop you," threatened the second man, glaring boldly up at the massive form of General Kozu.

The leader smirked, eyes gleaming maliciously. "The Emperor invited me himself. He challenged my strength when he'd asked the island to be split." Kozu ran a thick, grimy finger over the sharp edge of the blade, appearing completely lackadaisical about the whole situation.

"I'm here to play the Emperor's game," he continued, eyeing the scouts malevolently. "Go on, tell him to send his strongest armies to stop me. I'm ready."

Kozu waved a hand and the two men were released. They scrambled to their feet and ran thudding through the forest at the left. Kozu watched them flee. He observed them for a few seconds before turning to his archer, smiling wickedly.

"How many soldiers does it take to deliver a message?"

The archer caught on. He picked out an arrow and readied his bow. He aimed it at the running figures of the scout, particularly the one who was lagging behind.

"One," the archer answered.

Then, he let the arrow loose.

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◽~Skylor's POV~◽

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"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty!" I cried out in Nya's ears.

She jolted awake, shooting up and nearly hitting my nose in the process. "No, Kai, I did not steal your muffins!" she yelled, sounding half-asleep with one eye open. She suddenly realized where she was and immediately began rubbing her eyelids.

I smiled. "Aww, missing your brother already?"

"Ugh, wha time izzit?" she mumbled groggily, pushing her short hair back from her face.

"Time to get ready for the first day of military training!" I announced buoyantly, pumping a fist into the air.

Nya finally regained her alertness and grabbed my shoulders without a warning. "Oh no! We're going to be late!"

Hastily pushing me away, she scrambled to her feet. Her sheets got tangled around her ankles, causing her to crumple back to the ground. I watched wordlessly from the side as she muttered curses and frantically pulled off the knotted sheets. That's when I realized that I probably should've woken her up an hour earlier as she had a habit of panicking in the morning.