Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Land of Dragons: Goodbyes to China
Shan-Yu's body had been removed from the city to be taken care of and Toshiro made a quick check for any more Heartless, covering the entire city in a matter of minutes with Flash Step. Once done, he rejoined Sora and stood before the Emperor with the others.
"I've heard much about you, Fa Mulan." The Emperor began.
The woman stepped forward nervously, pushing her hair behind one ear. Toshiro and Sora shared a glance, would she be okay? The former hoped his idea to have Mulan give the final blow on Shan-Yu would at least spare her from the death penalty.
"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier." Mulan grimaced and bowed low as an apology, but the Emperor continued. "You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."
"I think she understands the consequences, sir." Toshiro grumbled while Sora shook his head sadly. The Emperor glanced at him before turning back to Mulan.
"You're a young woman, and yet…you have saved us all."
To their surprise, the Emperor bowed to Mulan, to which she jumped in surprise, unsure how to react. Sora patted her on the back, Donald jumping up and down happily while Goofy gave her a big grin. Toshiro remained silent but there was the ghost of a smirk on his face. The Emperor straightened and looked at the Chinese Captain behind him.
"Captain Li?" He said, looking at the man expectantly.
After bowing his head, Shang took a blade from his side, which Toshiro realized was not his but Shan-Yu's. What were they going to do with that? The man then held the sword out to Mulan, her eyes widening in shock.
"Take this," The Emperor said, "so the world will know what it is you have done for China."
"Thank you." She smiled and bowed to him once more.
Sora looked at Toshiro to see him looking intently at the sword. Was there something he sensed? Some remaining darkness? What had the Soul Reaper so intrigued?
"Mulan." He heard Shang say and turned back to the man. "Sora. Donald. Goofy. Hitsugaya."
Those called nodded to show they heard while the last simply looked up from the sword at him.
"Thank you." He bowed his head to them.
"'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain?" The Emperor muttered in a loud whisper to the man so everyone could still hear. "If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's Bravest Woman, you'll have to be more eloquent then that!"
Shang spluttered indignantly, unable to form words, and his cheeks turned red. Mulan giggled at that and he seemed to go a little redder. Toshiro rolled his eyes and turned away while Sora teased Mulan by asking for her autograph.
"Thanks for everything, Sora." She said. "And you too, Hitsugaya. Your training helped a lot."
He simply shrugged in reply, wanting this to be over. They'd been in the Land of Dragons for about three days now and he hadn't found a hint about opening the door to his world, no sign that it was the right place. It was time to move on and he wanted to leave soon.
Mushu jumped to the ground from Mulan's shoulder where he'd been keeping hidden and quiet.
"Now they GOTTA let me go back to being a guardian. They GOTTA!" He cheered to himself.
"But Mushu." Goofy looked confused. "I thought you already were a family guardian."
They felt the air grow colder and become rather oppressing and the trio who recognized the power immediately turned to Toshiro. His teal eyes seemed to be blazing as he glared at Mushu.
"So you're not even a guardian and you think you have the right to pry into my business." He growled in an icy tone, managing to hide what it was the dragon had pried into despite being furious.
"Oh, no, no…don't even worry about that." Mushu laughed nervously, backing away from the angry ice Captain. "That's real technical, ha, just for us guardians." He yelped as Hyorinmaru was pointed at him and darted away. Sora and the others seemed to find it funny but Toshiro was fully willing to use force on the tiny dragon.
He thought about giving chase just to let off some steam that a dragon that wasn't even a guardian had invaded his Inner World. Before he could choose to do so, however, the power he'd sensed in the sword grew stronger and he instead turned his attention to Mulan, the one holding it. It let off a familiar glow.
'So the power I sensed in it was the same I sensed in the membership card.' Toshiro mused. 'Then I can find the items needed to open gateways quicker.'
'Perhaps the one that will lead us home will have a slightly different presence.' Hyorinmaru offered.
'Possibly. If I find something suspicious I'll look into it. I might not need an item at all, just my power in the right spot.'
'Then perhaps the area you must be in will have Spirit Energy.'
'I'll keep a look out for anything.'
Doing the same thing he had in Hollow Bastion, Sora drew out the power of the item and unlocked the pathway to the next world. The sword clattered back to the ground and Mulan quickly picked it up, examining it with extreme curiosity.
"Guess it's about time to be moving on." Goofy said after the light died down and Sora let his Keyblade vanish.
"You shall be missed." The Emperor said to them all.
Sora didn't seem to like that and rubbed his head.
"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" He questioned.
"Of course." Mulan replied.
"We will look forward to your return." Shang added on, stepping up next to her.
"You two play nice." Sora teased with a goofy grin and Toshiro sighed, latching onto the boy's collar and walking away while Mulan and Shang blushed, suddenly looking nervous.
"Goodbye you four!" Mulan called out, quickly wiping away her blush. Sora waved as he was dragged away before struggling out of the hold and walking on his own. He seemed to complain to the white haired boy but was seemingly put down in the next instant.
"That child sure is a mystery." The Emperor mused aloud, watching Toshiro take lead without any hesitation, Sora and the others falling in step easily as if they were fine with him taking charge.
With the group of four, Toshiro turned to Donald.
"What was the other world we saw on the map?" He asked.
"We'll have to check when we get back to the Gummi Ship." Donald shrugged in reply.
"Right, the ship." They saw him grimace before he put his cold, expressionless face back on.
After a calming walk they made it back to the ship and lifted off, heading for the other world.
'Any more people, or creatures, that know what I am and I'm going to question just how good that barrier around the Soul Society is.' He growled in his thoughts before putting an arm over his stomach. 'I hate this ship.'
This is a depressingly short chapter :( I just wanted to save the next world for another chapter. Enjoy!
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