Chapter 12

"Where are we right now?" I asked, looking at beautiful bamboo trees.

"I have no idea." Sora answered.

"WHO AM I? WHO AM I? I AM THE GUARDIAN OF LOST SOULS. I AM THE POWERFUL, THE PLEASURABLE..." we heard a loud voice and ran to the source. That when I saw a woman dressed in armour, a horse, and a little dragon.

"Mushu?" I asked.

"Piri!" the little dragon jumped and looked at the boys, "Oh, Sora! Donald! Goofy! You're all here!"

"Do you know them?" the woman asked.

"Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together! Yeah, I helped these guys out of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon and all." I snickered and bursted into a fit of giggles. "What's so funny?"

I smiled, "Mushu, we barely summoned you..."

The boys chuckled to this and Mushu sighed, "Okay, when you did summon me, I helped a lot!"

Sora chuckled, "Something like that. So who's this guy?"

"Oh, uh... I'm Ping, the son of Fa Zhou." I tilted my head; why she acting like that?

"You see, Ping, here, is on his way to join the Imperial Army." Mushu crawled onto the girl's shoulder.

"Would you like to join us? I'll be able to fit in better with guys like you." Oh, was this a world where only males can fight?

"Oh, I get it now!" Goofy said, "You're pretending to be a boy, aren't ya?"

"Huh?" Sora looked at Ping and she nodded. 3... 2...1...

"WHAT?!?" Sora and Donald's jaw hit the ground. I face palmed myself and shook my head.

"Did you guys seriously didn't notice?" I asked them.

"Not me!" Sora said and Donald shook his head. Mushu jumped to my shoulder.

"Are they like this all the time?" I snickered at this.

"You have no idea..."

"We're right here!" Sora crossed his arms with a pout. I throw my arm around his shoulder and gave him a nougie.

"Aw, come on!" I laughed, "I was kidding!"

"You're so mean!" he laughed, too, and pulled away. He turned around and started to tickle me in the ribs. I tried to jump away but he was still on me. "Got 'cha!"

"H-hey! Haha, that's not fair!" I complained.

"All's fair in love and war." he continued and my laughter increased, "You started it!"

"Ahh!" I laughed, "P-Parley! I give up!!"

He stopped, "Parley?"

"Got 'cha!" I tackled him to the ground and pinned him. He blushed madly, "Hmm... I wonder where-"

"You two lovebirds knock it off!" Donald teased and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, O-captain, my captain!" I got off Sora and dusted off my clothes. "So, uh... Ping, why are you dressed as a man?" I asked her and she and Mushu explained that guys can only enter.

"Wait, if that's true, then..." Sora said and everyone looked at me.

"What am I going to do?" I asked and Goofy had an idea.

"Do ya still have that Organization Coat?" he asked and I nodded.

"It's back in the Gummi Ship!" I jumped up and ran back, "I'll go get it!"

I ran to the spot we concealed the ship and giggled. I suddenly felt a familar presence behind me and quickly turned around. No one was there.

"Who's there?" I summoned my keyblade and looked around. No one was there... "Am I paranoid?"

"I'd say so!" I gasped and turned to see Blackberry. I growled and jumped back. "Oh, don't worry! I'm not here to fight... That's not til later."

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing..." she grinned, "I'm just here for joys."

"Yeah, right!" I said.

"Wow, hold the spite!" she giggled, "Amazing show you put on earlier. You two are so cute together!"

"No! You know I don't lo-" I stopped myself. did I...? No! "I love Riku, dammit!"

"He doesn't even know you're alive." she grinned, "I wasn't going to tell you but I'm sure you can live with it. He's giving up on you."

"I..." I felt my heart crack a little, "SHUT UP!" I lunged forward and took a swing. She jumped back and chuckled.

"See? You do know the truth!" she said, "Sora knows it, too. That's why..." She looked passed me, "He wants you to himself!"

"That's not true!" Four light orbs passed me and hit her. I turned around and it was Sora, "Riku would never abandon her! Right, Piri?"

I gulped and blushed, "Yeah..."

Sora raised his eyebrows and gasped, lowering his weapon, "Piri?"

Blackberry laughed, "You know that he has! By the time you find him, he won't want to see your face, Sora!"

I growled, "Leave him out of this!"

"Why would I listen to a scaredycat cat like you?" a dark corridor was behind her, "Ta-ta!" she evilly laughed and backed into the portal before my Last Resort could hit her.

"Dammit!" I growled. "How can I let this happen?"

"Don't listen to her." Sora warned, "You know Riku won't give up on you. You're his light! Come on, let's get that coat. The other's are waiting."

As soon as I got it out, I put it on. Me and Sora headed back to where we found Ping. Donald got mad.

"About time!" Donald said and Sora and Goofy gulped at this.

"I beg your pardon?" I glared at him and he gulped. "I don't need your two sense right now!"

"Uh... nothing..." he said sheepishly. "Sorry..."

I hmphed, "That's what I thought!"

"Why are you scared of her, Donald?" Sora asked and we laughed at him. I simply smirked.

"Okay, I need my hair less girly... don't I?" I said after the laughter died down.

"We can always cut it!" Mushu suggested and I gasped.

"Without cutting it!" I held my French braid. "I love my braids, thank you!"

"Don't touch her braid!" Sora shouted, "This one time, our friend, Wakka, he was playing Blitz Ball with me, Riku, Tidus, Selphie, and Piri and he accidently got sand in her hair and-"

"That was gum, Sora!" I shouted, "The only way I could get it out was cutting my hair!"

"Yeah, and the next day-"

"Shut up, Sora!" I shouted out. Total akward silence.

"...I'll just put it up in a bun." Ping said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me off to the side. We sat on a rock and she got out her brush. I undid my braid and put it behind me.

As she combed my hair, she hummed a melody. I smiled, "That's a lovely tone! Where did you hear it?"

"My mother used to sing it to me when I little." she grinned and I sadly smiled. "Do you have any melodies from childhood?"

"Well, yeah but my sister sung it to me." I dug into my coat pocket and pulled out my wayfinder. "We were motherless when I was born. And dad was on a journey to find his self. I..." I sighed, "I'm sorry, I don't won't to talk about it anymore. Do you wanna hear the tone sis used to sing to me, Ping?"

"S-sure." she cried for me, "You can call me Mulan. That's my original name."

"Please don't feel bad for me! I don't need any sympathy." I said looking at Sora. He and the others were talking to each other. He stopped and looked at me and smiled. I smiled and looked to my wayfinder. "Things haven't been all bad! I've got Sora, Riku, Kairi, and all my friends. Not to mention my Grandmother and two cousins."

"You're lucky to have them." she said and finished my hair. "Okay, let's see how they think."

khkhkh

No one's POV

"We're finished!" Mulan said and the boys turned to them. Everyone gasped in shock. It was like she was a male organization member. She put her hands in her pockets.

"I never dressed like a man before..." she closed her eyes, thinking of what to do next. "Something's missing..."

"One's your voice!" Mushu said.

"Right..." she cleared her throat, "So like... this?" everyone jumped, blown away. The one the most shocked was Sora and Piri herself.

"Piri, talk in your man voice again!" he said, wanting to confirm who he heard she sounded like.

"Uh... what should I say?" she covered her mouth. Tears flowed easily from her, "I... I can't believe it..."

"Riku..." Sora smiled

She smiled. 'Is the reason why I sound like him is because we're connected?'

"Well, I'm surprised," Mushu said, "How about the name?"

"Um..." she crossed her arms and thought with the others.

"Oh, how about Pyro?" Sora said, brightly.

"Sora, your a genius!" she said then she snickered, "If only you weren't a numb skull all the time..."

"Pyro, you're starting to sound like Riku!" They giggled at what he said.

'I do care about Riku!' she gloated in her mind to Blackberry but Piri didn't hear anything. She smirked in victory.

khkhkh

"How you feeling, Pyro?" Sora asked and she turned to him. They were walking into the place where all the soldiers were.

"Nervous." she whispered. She looked around and her face twisted with disgust. There was men who belched, scratched their hide ends, and picked in between their toes with chopsticks- IN PUBLIC!

"Ugh, and I thought you were bad with the belching..." she commented quietly and Sora laughed. "That wasn't funny!"

"I guess I can get carried away..."

"You think?" she spat onto the ground crossing her arms.

"You ain't a lady, that's for sure." Mushu was on her shoulder, whispering.

"Of course I'm not!" she smiled. A soldier looked at her, peering at her. She glared and growled, "What do you want, buddy? To fix your eyes? 'Cause I can fix them perfectly!"

The skinny soldier quickly looked away, whistling. She smirked in victory.

"Man, you're kinda edgy, Pyro." Sora commented.

"Whatever, let's just get something to eat." she said, holding her gut.

"I'll get us some food." he said and went to line up for it. She watched him and found herself blushing. She gasped and put her hood up.

'Why am I blushing?' she asked herself as she looked to Sora. That's when she saw a rather short soldier push him out of the way.

" 'Bout time we got some grub." he muttered and she frowned.

"Hey quit cutting in line!" Sora whined and she snickered.

'What a gentlemen...'

"Yeah, get out!" Donald shouted. The shorty then punched Sora and she growled really loud. But they didn't hear it.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size, shorty!" she said and the short man looked at her.

"Was that a short joke?" he frowned and Sora made a slashing motion at his throat.

"Well, you heard me correctly, then!" she smugly smirked and Sora face palmed himself. The soldier growled.

"Why I ought-" a fat man picked up shorty. Afterwards, Piri went to help up Sora.

"Yao, repeat after me!" the fat man chant a Chinese thing and Yao repeated. "Better?"

"Yeah," Yao was put down, "Ah, you ain't worth my time, chicken boy." she completely ignored it.

"Chicken boy?! Say that to my face you limp noodle!" Mushu shouted and Sora and Piri widened their eyes.

"Mushu..." they whispered.

"O-o-oh! I'm gonna punch you so hard, I'll make you ancestors dizzy!" Yao ran to punch Piri and she blocked him. She hit the back of his knees and pushed him back. When he was on the ground, she dusted her coat off.

"Let's go eat, Sora." she said and she seen soldiers gather around. The skinny soldier charged, punching. She simply grabbed his arm and throw him. He landed on two soldiers, who became mad at the skinny guy. One thing lead to another and everybody was fighting. Piri was shoved into the rice pot and rice got in her hair. Sora seen this and he gulped. Fire was in her eyes and she turned to the person who shoved her. It was the skinny soldier. She swiftly ran up to him and got him into a head lock. She punched him in the face over and over. Sora seen Yao charge after her and he shoved him out of the way.

"You know, this is my first fight in a long time without a keyblade!" she said with a grin.

"You know this is wrong..." he said and she shrugged.

"Soldiers!" a man yelled and everyone looked at him. Piri punched skinny one more time. Everyone pointed at her, with an exception of the fat guy, Sora, Ping, Donald, and Goofy.

"HE STARTED IT!" they yelled and she let go of skinny.

'Shit...' her eyes were blinking several times, trying to remain calm. She told herself, 'Light would have never freak out... so don't!'

"What did you do?" Shang growled and she remained emotionless.

"I... uh," she cleared her throat, "I was defending my friend, sir!"

"It wasn't her." Ping stepped forward, defending her.

"I don't need any trouble in my camp causing trouble." he growled, "What's your name?"

"Pyro." she stood straight and emotionless still.

"What about you?" he asked Ping.

"Ping, It's Ping!"

"Thanks to your new friends, Pyro and Ping, you all will spend today picking every grain of rice. Then, Tonight, the real work begins." Shang said and Pyro put down her hood

"Starting the ones in my hair..." she mumbled, picking some grains out.

"Pyro..." Sora warned and she looked at the captain's face. He was glaring at her.

"Uh... sorry, sir!" she scratched the back of her head. He squinted his eyes at her than left.

"Uh Pyro, turn around." Mulan whispered the black coated soldier. She growled.

"Whaaa- oh..." All the soldiers glared at her and she gulped, "Hehe, H-hey guys! I think we're ready to pick up them, right?"

The soldiers remained unchanged and both girls gulped.

"Run!" they both whispered to each other and took of.

Night time...

Pyro watched Shang shot an arrow at a large wooden post which was extremely tall. Sora guessed bigger than the coconut trees on Destiny Islands. Shang took of his robe and Piri caught Mulan staring. She smirked.

"Oooooh, tough guy." Yao commented and the bluette's eyes widen.

"Yao, thank you for volunteering." Shang pointed at post, "Retrieve the arrow."

Yao bowed while cracking his knuckles. He whispered but Piri could hear him say, "I'll do it, pretty boy. And I'll do it with my shirt on."

"Hold it, Yao!" Shang stopped him, "You seem to be missing something..." a soldier brought to metal plates with ribbons tied to them. Shang tied one to Yao's left wrist and picked up the plate. "This one resembles strength..." he dropped it, which caused his wrist to fall to the ground. He tied the other one to Yao's right wrist and lifted Yao of the ground. "And this one resembles discipline. You'll need both of them to reach the top." others snickered at Yao, who was dropped. Piri chuckled. After Yao failed, Piri stepped forward.

"Okay, I think I can give it a shot." the captain smiled.

"That's the spirit, Pyro."

She looked up at the arrow and smiled with mild chuckle. She looked at Sora and they were thinking the same thing. She cracked her knuckles.

"Listen, I'm gonna get that arrow one way or another, you freaking post!" she said to the post and Sora laughed.

"Why is she talking to the post?" Mushu asked Sora.

"Pi did this when... he was trying to get some coconuts from a tree back home." he smiled and looked back at Piri, who was now climbing the post. She was at the mid-way point and she started sliding. She held on to the post and completely slide down.

Even with the organization coat on, the friction hurt like hell. She was on her hands and knees, her eyes wide with pain, and teeth clenched.

"OOOOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHH!"

The others covered their ears and grinded their teeth together, knowing that hurts. Sora rushed to help her up.

Soon everyone tired it and failed. The captain decided to go to sleep and others agreed, all except Mulan, Sora, and Piri.

"Guys, I give up. I should have never left home and join in." they stared at her. "I can't do this."

"Don't say that!" Sora said. "You should never give up! There's nothing we can't handle!"

"But I can't do this." Piri sighed at this.

"My cousin always tells me, 'It's not a question of can or can't. There's somethings in life, you just do.' Think about it. Why did you leave home?" Piri asked her.

"To help my father and family, but-"

"Well, there you go! You did it for your family." she smiled, "You followed your heart and it's brought you this far. I think you can do it." she said and Sora nodded in agreement.

Mulan smiled, "If I do this, I can say I did it for my family..."

"There ya go!" Sora encouraged her and she got up. She picked up the plates at the base and formulated a plan. Something clicked inside her head. Sora and Piri watched her climb the post with the plates wrapped around the post.

"You can do it, Ping!" she cheered and Sora giggled in excitement.

"Come on! Do it for your family!!" he shouted and people started to wake up. Everyone cheered for her. Mulan had a foot slip and Piri gasped.

"Don't give up!" Donald yelled.

"You can do it!" Goofy cheered.

"Almost there, Ping!" Sora said.

"You got this!" Piri pumped a fist in the air.

She did it.

Everyone cheered, shouted, and whistled for Ping. She grabbed the arrow and tossed it to the front captain's tent. He woke up and came out to see what the commotion was about. He stared at the arrow.

"Captain, he did it!" Piri rushed up to him. The captain looked up to her as she pointed to Ping with a smile. He looked up and seen Ping, grinning with a thumbs up.

Piri stared up to Ping. She grinned. The grin slowly turned a sad smile as she thought about the Destiny Islands in Castle Oblivion. Riku climbed the tree to get a coconut. She stared up at the stars and the wind slightly blew. Sora watched her and shook his head.

"What's wrong, Pyro?" he asked.

"I miss Riku." she smiled a real smile, "That's why when we find him, I'll be a lot more relieved."

"We will." he placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. "I promise."