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gone4neow · 4 years

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MIGHTY | ⓅⒸⓎ

c h a p t e r t w o

- park chanyeol x oc

- mulan rewrite [very loosely inspired by the disney version]

- warnings : cursing, dark themes, extreme violence

- work count : 2,814

previous chapter or next chapter

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Eunyeong shot up in bed the next morning when she heard a loud knock come from the front of the house. Quickly, she rolled out of bed and dressed herself before slipping out into the main quarter of the house. Her parents had just opened their bedroom door when she slid the entrance door open for their visitor. There stood her uncle. His hands fidgeted nervously as he looked down at her. It couldn't be, she thought to herself. There was no way her uncle would allow her to come back to the farm so soon, so why was he standing on her porch this early in the morning? Instead of addressing her, he looked over her shoulder and found his brother's eyes. Even with the dim lighting of the fresh morning, Eunyeong could see worry in her uncle's facial features.

"Everyone's expected to gather at the village's center by the time the sun rises completely," her uncle announced. Eunyeong looked over her shoulder to get a good look at her father's expression. Was something happening that she was unaware of? Before she could ask her uncle, he had already turned and walked off. She watched as he retreated further and further away from the house.

"So soon?" She heard her mother ask quietly from behind her. Eunyeong turned to look at her parents. Her father was leaning on her mother for stability to stand. There was not a doubt that his leg was hurting him at this point. Time and time again she had tried to get the village's only doctor to give the man some crutches, but crutches were a rarity in a small area like the one they lived in.

The eyes of her father averted from the floor and found Eunyeong's, which were a splitting image of his own. A few seconds of silence passed before the man released a small, exhausted sigh. His daughter analyzed his expression, looking for any clue that would explain what was happening.

"Eunyeong, you should get ready. We will head out in a moment and there will be officials there," her mother told her. Without another word, the woman and her husband turned and retreated back into their bedroom to get ready to go. Eunyeong lingered in the doorway of their home. A cool breeze made itself welcome in the home, brushing against the skin of the young woman as she stood as stiff as a statue. The word 'officials' echoed through her mind as if haunting her. It never meant anything good when the king sent officials to visit.

When the small family arrived to the busy village center, their eyes were alert and their hearts were pounding. Eunyeong was used to the villagers and their judgmental glares, but she was surprised to see most of them hardly paid any attention to her with her father next to her. Their eyes held admiration instead of resentment. It made her skin burn with anger at the way everyone refused to respect her when they were ready to drop at his feet with praise falling absentmindedly from their lips. Of course her father deserved such recognition, but she knew that if she had been born a son then the town would be fawning over her, too.

Eunyeong held onto her father's arm in an attempt to support him as he walked. His head was held high, despite the embarrassment he felt at his disability. Pain shot up his body as he forced himself to put weight on his leg to try to hide his obvious limp. All of these people looked to him as a hero, and yet he saw himself as a weak man who could barely even walk.

The sun eventually found itself settled in the sky. It was already warm out, but that could have been due to the large crowd gathered around the group of officials who stood in the center of town. Eunyeong's eyes widened at the sight of soldiers accompanying an important looking man who was sitting on top of a horse adorned with gold. In all her life she had never seen someone wear gold, especially not a horse. Curiosity ate away at her and she had to control her tongue so that she would not ask her father what was going on. The chatter around her suggested that everyone else was just as lost as she was. All the noise around her died down immediately after one of the soldiers called out for their attention.

"I see on your faces expressions of confusion. You're lost as to why officials are here, yes?" The man began, humming as he paused and let his eyes scan over his audience. "Our country is prepared to embark a new chapter in our history. The world as we know it has been threatened by terrorists who have invaded our home."

The man paused as the crowd began to grow angsty. They spoke in hushed mumbles to one another. Eunyeong couldn't help but tense at the man's announcement. War? Terrorists? In her country? She bit her tongue to stop from scoffing out in disbelief.

"I know you must be angry. I can feel it in the air. We are all desperate to cling onto normalcy. To do so, we must fight. Blood will have to be spilled onto our hands to protect our country from corruption. A war must take place!" The man continued after a moment. His voice grew louder with each word and by the time he took another pause his voice echoed across the entire village. The crowd roared with passion. Hands lifted into the air, punching at the sky as if celebrating victory before the fought had even been won.

"I have been sent here directly by our king, though we all wish it was under better circumstances. Today I am here to grant you a place in this war. We must stand together as one to behead our enemy before it's too late. It is your civic duty to sacrifice your life to save our country. Help me, my friends, in defeating the monster that threatens the lives out of wives and children!"

After a few minutes of watching as the crowd cheered with a newfound bloodlust, the man began to call out names. Eunyeong recognized more than half of the names. Fathers, sons, and even grandfathers walked up to the man to receive their scrolls. They clutched their official documentation of enlistment for war tightly in their hands as they retreated back into the crowd to stand with their families. At first her mind was blank and all she could do was stare at the officials ahead of her as chaos erupted around her. That was before the man called out her father's name. That was before she realized her father would have to go to war because he had no son to go in his place.

She winced at the sound. Her father could predict her every move. Just as she went to step forward with intentions of protesting, his hand reach out and grabbed her shoulder. Their eyes met for a brief second before the man shook his head sternly and began to push past her. Her hands balled into fists as she watched her father limp up to the officials. They greeted him without smiles on their faces. Their eyes scanned him from head to toe. With a clenched jaw, she watched as her father received his scroll. As he turned to make his way back to his wife and daughter, the officials shared an amused glance with one another as they snickered. The sight of the men laughing at her father made her want to march right up to them and give them a piece of her mind, but she knew her father wouldn't approve of such behavior. So, she analyzed the features of their faces and promised herself that if she ever came across them again she wouldn't forget this day.

The rest of the day for the small family was tense. Eunyeong's mother had locked herself away in her bedroom as soon as they returned home. The younger woman tried her best to ignore the sobs coming from the room, but it was hard to pretend they weren't echoing throughout the entire house. Her father sat silently in the kitchen. Her eyes flickered over to his distant expression ever so often as she prepared dinner for the evening. Everyone in the house knew what the man's enlistment meant, including him. Eunyeong's hands trembled as she tried not to focus on the fact that her father was silently preparing himself for death. There were few things in life that she feared, but this day had made her realized she was mortified of losing her father.

The man didn't meet her eyes as she placed his food down onto the table in front of him. In fact, she wasn't sure if he had noticed her presence at all. The woman swallowed her nerves and tried her best to wear a brave face for the man. Coming to terms with death was hard enough, but having to watch your loved ones struggle to come to terms with your death was torturous. So, she blinked away her tears and allowed a small smile to form on her face as she sat down next to the man.

"Dad," she called out lightly. When this didn't catch his attention, she reach out and gently pushed on his shoulder. Slowly, his eyes fluttered as if he had just woken up from a deep slumber. He met her eyes this time. He took in her expression and sighed softly. His hand reach up and landed on the top of her head.

"You're being so brave for me," he spoke quietly, his voice full of admiration. Eunyeong looked away from him, afraid she would crumble under the weight of his stare. She nodded down at the food she had prepared for him.

"I made your favorite," she announced lightly. His hand disappeared from the top of her head. It sat in his lap for a short moment. He tried to ignore the way it shook with emotion, but he couldn't hide it from his daughter. She let her hand find his and squeezed it assuringly.

"Eat up," she instructed. "I'll take mom's to her."

Their hands disconnected as she stood from the floor. Her father watched her closely as she picked up her mother's food and walked away. When she was out of sight, he looked back down at his own food and took a deep breath. He had lived a long life. He had served his country well, married a wonderful wife, and had a child he couldn't be more proud of. Death did not scare him and he knew his family would manage without him. Eunyeong always made sure everything was taken care of so he had no worries. Though, he couldn't help but wonder why he still felt so unsettled. His stomach twisted into knots and he felt as if something far worse than death was on the way.

That night a harsh thunderstorm rolled into the village. The rain pounded against the roof of their home with such intensity that the sound echoed through ever corner of the room. Eunyeong knew that the farm would be havoc come tomorrow morning, but tonight she was on a mission and because of that she was grateful for the violent rain. Her footsteps were inaudible as she made her way out of her room. She didn't bother to slide her door back shut as she silently stepped towards her parents' shared room. A burst of lightning shook the house as she slid the door open. For a brief few seconds she could see her parents wrapped up against one another, clutching onto one another as if they would never see each other again. Still, they slept. Eunyeong sighed with relief.

At the center of the wall adjacent to her sleeping parents was a wooden table. On top of it sat a chest that her father had shown her several times during her childhood. She could recall the pride in his voice as he explained how it had been given to him by his father, who had fought a war just as he had. Inside there were family heirlooms and a sword - the same sword that both her father and grandfather had used to fight in battle. She walked over to the chest quietly, lifted the lid, and released a shaky breath at the sight of the sword. It reflect the moon's glow as if it were flaunting it's beauty for the whole world to see. For a moment she forgot that it had been used to take the lives of men. At first she was hesitant to touch it, afraid that it would end her own life if she did so.

With one glance over her shoulder at her sleeping parents, she realized that she had no other options. So, her hand reach into the box and wrapped around the sword tightly. It felt heavy in her grasp. Her eyes scanned over the weapon for a few seconds as if in disbelief of its existence. Perhaps it wasn't its existence alone, but the fact that it was sitting so soundly in her hands at that moment. She shook her head to rid her mind of those thoughts and reach into the chest a second time. This time she dug out her father's old military uniform. Unlike most soldiers', her father's had been preserved for the most part. There were a few tatters here and there accompanied by stains that could never be completely erased. Aside from those few flaws, the stitching still held strong - only now history was woven into the material.

A clap of thunder rang throughout the house. The loud noise was enough to bring Eunyeong back to reality. She turned slowly to take a final look at the two people who had raised her. She drew in a deep breath, blinked away the tears in her eyes, and muttered a silent goodbye before she crept out of the room. The sound of heavy rain gave her something to focus on aside from her thoughts as she got dressed in her room. Her hands worked slowly as she wrapped medical bandages around her upper torso. It wasn't that she had much to hide in the first place, but she was paranoid that her feminine features would give her identity away no matter how small. Once she felt her breasts were hidden, she cautiously threw on her father's uniform. On her father the material fit perfectly but on her it was loose. Praying that it wouldn't be too obvious, she turned her attention to her hair. It took a few minutes for her to gather her dark locks in a perfect ball. Growing up she had seen her father wear a similar hairstyle several times when he was attending official duty. His hair had always been so long and glowing - she had always hoped hers would grow to be just a beautiful.

When she finished dressing, she sat completely still with her legs tucked neatly underneath her. The sun would rise soon and she would have to go. For the first time in her life, she would be completely own her own. What she was attempting to do with be risking not only her life, but her entire family's as well. Perhaps she was selfish, but her heart was burning with a passion that she could not ignore. All these years she had tried to provide for her family. Though she hadn't failed in doing so, it never felt like enough. Compared to everything her father had done for her family, sacrificing her life for his felt like a small task. Her head was bowed as she prayed one last prayer. The rain had not let up any by the time she was fully ready to leave, but she knew a journey in the rain was nothing compared to what she was about to get herself into. She rose to her feet, placed her father's sword in its sheath that hung around her hip, and slipped out into the early morning.

It was still dark out, but the sound of the roosters on the farm could be heard even over the pounding rain which meant the sun wasn't too far behind. Eunyeong ignored the way her feet splashed against the muddy earth beneath her. She ignored the cold of the rain that attacked her exposed skin without mercy. She ignored the pain that lingered in her heart as she grew farther and farther away from her childhood home. There was no going back now. She would take her father's place in the war or she would die trying.

—————————————————————————— a / n : hi! i know everyone is probably wondering where chanyeol comes in, but he will be coming very soon so please bare with me. this is eunyeong’s story more so than just a cheesy, romantic fanfic and i really want to make sure her story is told completely. hope everyone enjoys this chapter! xx

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