Aladdin gently placed Mulan on Carpet.
"Take care of her," he said.
Then, he turned and raised his right hand to the sky, his gaze resolute and burning with unbridled rage.
Magical energy surged out from Aladdin into the clouds overhead.
The sky slowly turned dark.
Thunder and lightning crackled across the clouds.
Carpet soared to find shelter under a tree.
Rain slowly fell from the skies over the burning forest.
It gradually turned into a heavy drizzle.
The raging flames tried to fight back, but their efforts were futile against the downpour. The flames receded and began to be quenched.
Thick blankets of smoke slowly rose into the air.
Aladdin remained hovering in the air, untouched by the rain. Once he was certain that his spell had taken effect, he withdrew his hand and soared toward Carpet.
He carried her into his arms once more and sat under the tree.
An invisible barrier formed around the enormous tree, protecting it from the rain and preventing anything from entering.
A brilliant glow of light gathered around Mulan as Aladdin channelled his magical energy to heal her once more.
The burnt spots on her body healed slowly as new skin began to grow back. Even the muscles within tightened as a mysterious source of energy slowly reversed the damage that had been done to her internally.
Sensing that Mulan was slowly recovering, Aladdin looked at Carpet. "Return to the Empire and get me the Oracle Sceptre."
Carpet nodded. He dropped off Abu before soaring into the air at supersonic speed, vanishing into the distance.
It had taken them approximately three hours to reach China and an hour and a half to find Mulan's camp and rescue her. With Carpet's speed, it should take him about six hours to take the Oracle Sceptre from Jasmine and make a round trip back to their position.
Abu sat down beside Aladdin. "Al," he said.
"I'm okay. I'm just a little worried about her," Aladdin turned to Abu and responded with a smile.
Abu nodded. "Will she be okay?" He looked at the unconscious Mulan and asked.
Aladdin checked Mulan's injuries and estimated that she would recover before that time. However, when she would awaken was a different matter because even with his powers, Aladdin couldn't remove the mental strain and exhaustion.
For the first time since he arrived in this world, Aladdin couldn't formulate a plan on how to handle his current situation.
A surge of doubt slowly rose within him regarding his ability to handle the sudden turn of events. But before that doubt could grow any further, Aladdin pushed it aside and focused on the pressing issues at hand.
"Please, wake up."
Without hesitation, Aladdin channelled more magical power into his spell.
The bright glow grew even more brilliant, radiating a beacon of light that stretched across the surrounding area beneath the dark, rain-filled clouds.
***
Mulan had a dream. She had almost died, buried under burning wooden shelves and a collapsed tent after the Barbarians—the Huns—ambushed their military camp and burned it to the ground. Her companions were either slain or taken prisoner. Neither group escaped unscathed.
She had almost died.
The thought ran through Mulan's mind like an axe cleaving through a tree. Instantly, her eyes snapped open, and she sat up. She took a sharp breath and breathed heavily.
"Aargh!!" A sharp headache pierced through Mulan's mind, forcing her to clutch her head as it throbbed in pain.
"Calm down, you're no longer in danger," a voice sounded beside her.
Mulan snapped her head in the direction of the voice.
"Aahh!!" she screamed, her expression filled with terror as she quickly rose to her feet and moved away from the cover of the tree, distancing herself from Aladdin.
She grabbed a wet tree branch from the ground and entered a battle stance with the branch pointed at Aladdin.
Suddenly, she paused. Her expression shifted as she looked at her arms. She realised that she wasn't wearing her military clothes. Instead, she wore a soft green silk tunic and trousers.
"Aarggh!!" A painful headache throbbed through her head as memories of what had happened rushed into her mind.
"AHHHHH!!" Mulan screamed in pain. She unknowingly dropped the stick and collapsed on the ground with both hands pressed against her head.
Aladdin rose to his feet, and just as he was about to approach her, Mulan stretched her hand out toward him.
"STAY BACK!"
She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling.
Mulan touched her chest. Realising that her breasts were no longer bound within the cloth bandages, she cradled her chest with her left arm and used her other hand to push her body backwards while staring at Aladdin in terror.
"Stay back!!"
"MUSHU!! MUSHU!!" She screamed, looking around for a small red dragon. But she received no response. Her so-called family guardian was nowhere to be seen.
She had almost died.
She wanted to stand up and run, but she couldn't. Somehow, her legs felt weak and numb even though she sensed that they were perfectly alright. She shouldn't even be able to move her hands or speak, yet she could.
She could still feel the taste of the smoke in her lungs and the heat burning against her skin, yet neither was there. She could still taste the feeling of death… it made no sense. She didn't know whether she was dreaming. She couldn't trust herself to distinguish whether she was dreaming or not.
All she could truly feel at this moment was overwhelming terror as she stared at the man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. This left her with only one conclusion.
…Huns!
"I'm not here to harm you. I'm not an enemy. Look, I'll sit down here." Aladdin raised his hand and sat under the tree. "I'm an honest traveller and simply came upon the burning camp, so I decided to look for survivors. Fortunately, I found you and did my best to help you recover. If you don't believe me, take a look at my attire. Does this look like something from around here?"
Mulan wanted to respond, but paused, taking a look at Aladdin's attire.
He was dressed in a rich purple and crimson fabric, with bronze bracers and a strange headdress over his head.
She had never seen an attire like this before. It was exquisite yet simple, and wasn't something a barbarian would wear.
The fear in her heart slowly lessened, and her rationality began to take root.
Mulan swallowed a mouthful of air and asked, "Do you know the Huns?" She observed Aladdin's movements and expression to determine if he would tell any lies.
"Huns? I've heard of them. I've done my research, so I know one or two things about them," Aladdin replied, furrowing his brows and putting on a thoughtful expression.
"Are they the ones who burned down your camp?"
Mulan hesitated for a moment. She placed her hands against the soft, wet grass below to support herself as she sat upright and slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry about that," Aladdin said.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Six and a half hours."
Mulan looked up. The sun still hung in the sky, yet showed signs of setting soon.
The air was filled with a cold chill, and dew covered the earth.
Mulan touched her hand. Then, pulled up her trousers.
Her skin was spotless. Even the scars she had sustained during her training and while growing up had disappeared as though they no longer existed.
She was certain that she had sustained life-threatening injuries, yet it looked as though nothing had happened, as if it were a figment of her imagination.
Doubts began to surface in her heart.
Mulan stared at Aladdin with caution and fear. "What did you do to me?" She asked, realising that the man before her was far from ordinary. Her mind spun as she thought about how to flee from here as fast as she could and find her companions.
"Nothing. As I said before, I found you badly injured, on the verge of death and healed you," Aladdin responded. "This kind of treatment is common where I'm from."
Seeing Mulan remain silent, Aladdin shook his head and said, "This is getting nowhere. Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Aladdin."
"How about you?"
"I'm Ping, a soldier in the Imperial Army of China."
'She doesn't trust me,' Aladdin sighed. He wasn't worried, as he had already expected this outcome from the beginning.
"Are you truly a soldier? I thought women weren't allowed in the army?" Aladdin asked with a thoughtful expression.
Mulan opened her mouth, then closed it.
Aladdin looked at her terrified gaze, wondering if he had acted too quickly in calling her out.
Mulan stretched out her hand and pointed at the sky.
A sharp whistle echoed through the sky.
Aladdin followed the direction of her hand. He saw Carpet approaching at incredible speed.
Aladdin gently massaged his temple. He had forgotten to switch to a different area and had Abu wait for Carpet's return. A magic flying carpet was a terrifying sight for someone like Mulan, who had lived all her life in China, where the magical realities of the Seven Deserts weren't as common.
//////
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