Priorities
Monday, 3 January 2022 04:46![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkyourownwayTitle: Priorities
Fandom: Mulan (1998)
Main Character(s): Yi Fú
Minor Character(s): Fa Mulan
Genre: General
Rating: G
Disclaimers: Mulan © Disney
Notes: Written foralexseanchai for 2021 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomtrees. I thought the prompt they provided was really interesting, so I decided to give it a try.
Summary: Yi Fú had a decision to make.
Today had been nothing less than a disaster.
Fú breathed out a tired sigh, rolling his shoulders as he massaged the tense muscles in the back of his neck. It was only his first day at the training camp, and they hadn’t even started any actual training practice yet. But who knew that picking out rice from grass could be so exhausting?
It was difficult to see in the dim candle light, but Fú squinted in the dark as he ran a wet cloth over his face and neck, scrubbing the sweat and grime of the day away. He could hear some of his tent neighbors still grumbling about the events from earlier, but while he was also still frustrated about getting in trouble due to a single person’s incompetency, he wanted nothing more than to get some sleep.
Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn’t to be, when someone noticed him as he began heading towards his tent.
“Hey, Fú,” the other man called out, alerting the group to his presence. “You know anything about that guy?”
“Who?” he couldn’t help asking, despite knowing who they had been talking about mere moments ago.
“Ping,” another one replied, not bothering to hide the sneer in his voice.
Fú couldn’t help a huff of his own. He had been further back in the crowd when the new captain had been rebuking this apparent Ping – what kind of name was that anyway? – so he hadn’t heard much of what was happening, but at least now he had a name to remember.
The others were still waiting for an answer, though, so Fú managed to push aside his own ire long enough to respond, “No. Why would I?”
“You both came from the same village, didn’t you?” another of the men – Fú was too tired to recall any of their names at the moment – intejected.
With a puzzled frown, Fú shook his head. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, you said that you came from the same village as Fa Zhou, yeah?”
Fú somewhat regretted mentioning that, as if such a fact had any bearing on his own abilities, but he failed to see the connection between that and the trouble-making Ping. “So?”
One of the men gave him an impatient look. “So you ought to know something about his son.”
Fú stared at the group, the darkness making it difficult to tell if they were being serious. “His what?”
He could see well enough, though, to notice that his reaction seemed to leave the men confused. “Fa Zhou’s son,” the first one repeated slowly, as if his hearing was the problem.
“Fa Zhou doesn’t have a son,” Fú finally managed to force past his incredulity.
The other men exchanged uncertain looks. “Are you sure?” asked another. “I heard the captain read out ‘Fa Zhou’ off his conscription notice.”
“Were you even close enough to hear right?” Fú wondered. “Fa Zhou doesn’t have any sons.” That had been the problem, after all, that day when the conscriptions were handed out. Why Fa Zhou’s daughter had made such a commotion –
...wait.
Fú sucked in a sharp breath. Oh no...no, she wouldn’t…
The others were talking again, but he barely registered their words as he hastily bid them good night and took his leave. All the while thoughts raced through his mind as he considered everything he had just heard.
That day in the square was still fresh in his memories. Fa Zhou’s daughter had drawn so much attention, begging for Fa Zhou to be spared from the draft, and he had even sympathized with her while still feeling embarrassment for her, speaking out against men as she had.
Even so...she couldn’t really have done what he thought she did...could she?
* * *
There was no doubt about it; “Ping” was, in truth, Fa Zhou’s daughter.
Despite his suspicions, Fú hadn’t really tried to uncover that fact. In truth, he had been doing his best to avoid “Ping”, and simply concentrate on his training. But it was difficult not to notice his fellow trainee when the captain seemed very determined to make an example of him (her). And while he didn’t know Fa Zhou’s daughter well (or...at all, really), eventually he couldn’t help realizing Ping’s true identity.
At first, Fú considered informing the captain of the deception. It was, objectively, the proper thing to do; she was breaking the law, after all, and wasn’t it his duty to uphold it?
And yet...all Fú could think of was that day in the square, when their families received the conscription notices. He remembered her fear and concern for her father so clearly...especially because it was very similar to his own.
It was the only reason he was even here in the first place – to spare his father the risk of going to war. He couldn’t bear the thought of his father enduring the hardship of combat, of being caught in potential bloodshed, and so had made the decision to take his father’s place. Fa Zhou hadn’t been lucky enough to have a son to do the same...but he did have, it seemed, a daughter willing to risk her life to do so – in more ways than one. Could Fú really expose her then, for wanting to do what he himself was doing?
Perhaps not...but he could not assist her either. If anyone found out that he knew, he would certainly be punished as well. If he kept his distance, then she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone knowing, and if her secret was discovered, he would still be able to deny any knowledge of it.
Besides, she would still have to make it through the training, which even all the men were having difficulty with. If she couldn’t successfully pass that, then perhaps the problem would resolve itself.
Either way, he had enough to worry about, if he was going to survive this whole ordeal himself.
Fandom: Mulan (1998)
Main Character(s): Yi Fú
Minor Character(s): Fa Mulan
Genre: General
Rating: G
Disclaimers: Mulan © Disney
Notes: Written for
alexseanchai for 2021 fandomtrees. I thought the prompt they provided was really interesting, so I decided to give it a try.Summary: Yi Fú had a decision to make.
Today had been nothing less than a disaster.
Fú breathed out a tired sigh, rolling his shoulders as he massaged the tense muscles in the back of his neck. It was only his first day at the training camp, and they hadn’t even started any actual training practice yet. But who knew that picking out rice from grass could be so exhausting?
It was difficult to see in the dim candle light, but Fú squinted in the dark as he ran a wet cloth over his face and neck, scrubbing the sweat and grime of the day away. He could hear some of his tent neighbors still grumbling about the events from earlier, but while he was also still frustrated about getting in trouble due to a single person’s incompetency, he wanted nothing more than to get some sleep.
Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn’t to be, when someone noticed him as he began heading towards his tent.
“Hey, Fú,” the other man called out, alerting the group to his presence. “You know anything about that guy?”
“Who?” he couldn’t help asking, despite knowing who they had been talking about mere moments ago.
“Ping,” another one replied, not bothering to hide the sneer in his voice.
Fú couldn’t help a huff of his own. He had been further back in the crowd when the new captain had been rebuking this apparent Ping – what kind of name was that anyway? – so he hadn’t heard much of what was happening, but at least now he had a name to remember.
The others were still waiting for an answer, though, so Fú managed to push aside his own ire long enough to respond, “No. Why would I?”
“You both came from the same village, didn’t you?” another of the men – Fú was too tired to recall any of their names at the moment – intejected.
With a puzzled frown, Fú shook his head. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, you said that you came from the same village as Fa Zhou, yeah?”
Fú somewhat regretted mentioning that, as if such a fact had any bearing on his own abilities, but he failed to see the connection between that and the trouble-making Ping. “So?”
One of the men gave him an impatient look. “So you ought to know something about his son.”
Fú stared at the group, the darkness making it difficult to tell if they were being serious. “His what?”
He could see well enough, though, to notice that his reaction seemed to leave the men confused. “Fa Zhou’s son,” the first one repeated slowly, as if his hearing was the problem.
“Fa Zhou doesn’t have a son,” Fú finally managed to force past his incredulity.
The other men exchanged uncertain looks. “Are you sure?” asked another. “I heard the captain read out ‘Fa Zhou’ off his conscription notice.”
“Were you even close enough to hear right?” Fú wondered. “Fa Zhou doesn’t have any sons.” That had been the problem, after all, that day when the conscriptions were handed out. Why Fa Zhou’s daughter had made such a commotion –
...wait.
Fú sucked in a sharp breath. Oh no...no, she wouldn’t…
The others were talking again, but he barely registered their words as he hastily bid them good night and took his leave. All the while thoughts raced through his mind as he considered everything he had just heard.
That day in the square was still fresh in his memories. Fa Zhou’s daughter had drawn so much attention, begging for Fa Zhou to be spared from the draft, and he had even sympathized with her while still feeling embarrassment for her, speaking out against men as she had.
Even so...she couldn’t really have done what he thought she did...could she?
* * *
There was no doubt about it; “Ping” was, in truth, Fa Zhou’s daughter.
Despite his suspicions, Fú hadn’t really tried to uncover that fact. In truth, he had been doing his best to avoid “Ping”, and simply concentrate on his training. But it was difficult not to notice his fellow trainee when the captain seemed very determined to make an example of him (her). And while he didn’t know Fa Zhou’s daughter well (or...at all, really), eventually he couldn’t help realizing Ping’s true identity.
At first, Fú considered informing the captain of the deception. It was, objectively, the proper thing to do; she was breaking the law, after all, and wasn’t it his duty to uphold it?
And yet...all Fú could think of was that day in the square, when their families received the conscription notices. He remembered her fear and concern for her father so clearly...especially because it was very similar to his own.
It was the only reason he was even here in the first place – to spare his father the risk of going to war. He couldn’t bear the thought of his father enduring the hardship of combat, of being caught in potential bloodshed, and so had made the decision to take his father’s place. Fa Zhou hadn’t been lucky enough to have a son to do the same...but he did have, it seemed, a daughter willing to risk her life to do so – in more ways than one. Could Fú really expose her then, for wanting to do what he himself was doing?
Perhaps not...but he could not assist her either. If anyone found out that he knew, he would certainly be punished as well. If he kept his distance, then she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone knowing, and if her secret was discovered, he would still be able to deny any knowledge of it.
Besides, she would still have to make it through the training, which even all the men were having difficulty with. If she couldn’t successfully pass that, then perhaps the problem would resolve itself.
Either way, he had enough to worry about, if he was going to survive this whole ordeal himself.
