//------------------------------//
// Nobody: Facing Shan-Yu 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Sombra found that even with her group helping inside the bamboo forest, and Sora's dealing with the enemies that were in the area around the camp that the army had set up, the Commander seemed to take far too much time in preparing his forces to move against Shan-Yu and the Huns. She understood that it wasn't easy to deal with someone like this, who might have access to the Darkness given that some of the Heartless did seem to be working with the figure they were hunting, but even then it seemed like Mulan's commanding officer was just dragging things out. Part of her had to wonder if he was just spending time training his troops or if he was just being foolish in wasting time, or if there was another party, no doubt the Organization, prolonging things in order to build another Heartless army to try and get more hearts for the Kingdom Hearts they were building. She really wasn't sure at this point, even though she assumed someone from the Organization had a hand in the events of this world, otherwise there was no point for the World to even form a pathway to this world, but she knew that when things got heated her group would be ready to act.

While they waited Fluttershy even pointed out that someone seemed to be studying the camp as well, there was a falcon in the air that seemed to be flying around the place, observing the army and then flying off into the mountain, which meant that Shan-Yu wanted to know what his main opposition was up to.

"Finally... I was wondering if the Captain was ever going to move." Sombra remarked, because after a long period of time just doing nothing it appeared that his company was getting ready to move, through at the same time Sora's group was the first to move out as well, while her change in addressing the man in charge of the army was due to her using her shadowy powers to sneak into the camp and allowed her to overhear what title he went by.

"Yes, and it seems like he's sending Sora's group ahead to clear the path." Seras said, as the mountain path in question was where a fair number of the Heartless were gathering right now, which meant it was where they had to be as well, since that meant there was a good chance they might catch the one behind Shan-Yu's dark army before they got away, to which she got up and grinned, "Shall we get underway as well?"

Sombra nodded as her group emerged from the bamboo forest, jumping down into the area that Sora's group happened to be passing through, which was where they got a good view of the new Heartless that were in this world, as she used her own Keyblade to force the spearhead of the Assault Rider she was facing into the ground. While she cut her foe down Radiant used a few arrows to eliminate a couple of Nightwalkers that were off on their right, allowing Sora to help Mulan deal with a few Soldiers and Shadows that happened to be part of the group. Such a thing allowed her to see that the lady they were helping had definitely improved quite a bit over a short period of time, thanks to being sent out on a few missions and doing a bit of training in the camp between tasks, but there was still much for her to learn and Sombra stopped by her to show her a few movements that would help her out. She could afford to be like this because the Heartless of this world were weaker than those they had fought at the end of their first adventure, meaning there was no reason for her to get serious right now, plus with Sora and the others working together as a team Sombra could sit back and gather the hearts with ease if she had any desire to do so.

Since that would be boring Sombra focused on taking part in the battle by helping Mulan master her movements and not wasting energy with how she attacked, allowing the lady to improve her stance and her attacks as they moved up the rough path that the Captain wanted Sora's group to clear out for the army.

"Where did you learn how to fight? Your skills are quite impressive." Mulan asked, as this was the first time she was seeing Sombra and the other girls clash with the Heartless, which was strange to her despite what she was doing, but even then she knew that they were far stronger than anyone in the army, meaning they could beat Shan-Yu with ease.

"We've been in a few battles before this, so we've had some time to learn some things." Sombra replied, because she knew that Donald would likely scream his head off if she said anything about the other worlds, even though she wasn't likely to say a word about the other worlds unless the one they were speaking to knew about them ahead of time, and this was the best way to explain things to Mulan, since she would have assumed they were from another part of the world.

Mulan nodded as they continued to push up the path that was in front of them, where she continued to observe them and did her part in weakening the Heartless that dared to oppose them, dodging out of the way of an attack that came from one of the Assault Riders, since she didn't want to be hurt by it's weapon. She also got a chance to see Donald and Goofy strike their enemies down with ease, one using their magic and another using his shield to both defend himself while attacking a few seconds later, showing her that there were more ways to fight than she knew. When it came to Sombra and the others in her group, however, Mulan found that they were faster than she was expecting them to be and each one really delivered powerful punishing blows to the 'Heartless' that happened to be their enemies. It amazed her that they were so strong, and that some were capable of fighting by barely looking at the foes that were in the area, to the point where she just watched as Sombra seemed to flash around the area, moving faster than everyone else, before taking down an Assault Rider with just a single attack.

Such a thing made her realize that they would be able to defeat Shan-Yu with the assistance of Sombra's group, along with the fact that such a thing was likely going to be impossible since the Captain would discharge her if he figured out the truth and none of these girls would be allowed to participate in the upcoming fight either.

As it turned out Sombra was planning for such a thing as she and the other girls moved into another portion of the forest that was nearby, where Mulan found that they were weaving their way through the bamboo and striking down more of the enemies they had fought on the way up here. While Sombra did that she made sure to observe the village that happened to be at the end of the mountain path, where it was easy to see how the Captain was pushing Mulan to do better while stating that 'he' wasn't worthy to be a soldier. As they set up their position inside the village, or at least paused to rest up before the next leg of their journey, both Sombra and Sora noticed a black coat entering a nearby cave, joined by someone else, but at the same time they knew it was definitely a trap. With that in mind Sombra made sure that they took out the rest of the few Heartless that were in the forest before she and the others descended on the village, wearing the gray coats this time since the Captain would go crazy if he knew who they were.

The plan was simple, she and Fluttershy would be defending the village, where her companion would be utilizing her own magic to protect everyone while she focused on the Heartless that would be trapped outside, and while they did that Seras and Radiant would be following the black coat into the cave, with a bit of her magic with them to capture the hearts of the Heartless they would be fighting.

"Grand Barrier." Fluttershy said, stabbing the ground with the base of her staff, where Sombra watched as a pink barrier appeared around the village and surprised all of the soldiers, while at the same time she could tell that the silent observer was shocked by this particular discovery.

"Good job! Now, Sora, Ping, Donald, Goofy, join me in defeating the Heartless that are coming." Sombra stated, because she knew the sensation better than anyone else at this point, a large group of Assault Riders and Nightwalkers, joined by a fair number of Shadows, Soldiers, and small yellow flyer Heartless, Rapid Thrusters due to their quick movements, descended on the village.

The Captain was dumbfounded as he watched the scene that unfolded in front of him, Ping's group and their unknown allies wiped out the creatures, the 'Heartless', that were coming at the village, while at the same time he noticed a black figure off in the distance that was stumbling back in utter shock. The problem was that all of the new individuals were ladies, he could hear it in their voices, and what really stunned him was when he heard it in Ping's voice, causing him to realize that they had been fooled by some of the most skilled warriors he had encountered. At the same time the little red dragon he had seen in the past, it was hard to miss him since he liked to talk, spotted Shan-Yu off in the distance and Ping rushed after him with Sora's group following close behind, leaving the gray coats to protect the village. In that moment he also found that the one with the dark weapon also seemed to have two rings of energy around her hands, one a dark purple and one blue, that she used to punch her foes right into the ground, like they were nothing compared to her might.

In that moment he found that it was a shame that they weren't men, because he could have used them in the army, plus now he had to discharge Sora's group since he knew that all three of them were in on keeping Ping's true identity from him, a terrible blow for sure when he thought about it.

Sombra, on the other hand, didn't care about what was going through the Captain's mind right now as she found that the snow covered peak of the mountain collapsed with the sound of something small exploding, causing her to nod to Fluttershy instantly, who brought the barrier down. From there they rushed towards the peak, joined by Seras and Radiant while her power captured the rest of the freed hearts, though her focus was on what was ahead of them, a wall of snow heading down a different path, so they didn't have to worry about the village. With that in mind she flashed up to a hill that overlooked the area in question as she figured out that Mulan must have used one of the fireworks from this world to cause an avalanche in the area, burying Shan-Yu in snow, something that wouldn't kill him since she was sure there were more caves in the area, so they would have to deal with him later. Of course Sora and the others were fine, they had figured out how to get out of the way without being taken by the wave of snow, and she could hear Mushu ruining everything by calling Mulan by her true name, just in time for the Captain to arrive on scene.

It was almost hilarious how quickly he dismissed Mulan and the others from the army, even though in his eyes they should have been the ones to defeat Shan-Yu, though Sombra was fine with this and made sure the army departed swiftly, allowing Mulan to change into her true attire, a light brown uniform with a green sash.

"So, what now?" Radiant asked, as this seemed like a dead end for both them and Mulan, as they needed to find an item of some kind to activate the World's link to one of the other worlds, likely to signify that they had done something important in the world they landed on, and right now it seemed like helping Mulan had backfired.

"We finish off Shan-Yu." Sombra replied, where Mulan's head whipped back to the snow as they found that the leader of the invading army had, in fact, survived the snowfall, to which she summoned her Keyblade as everyone else readied their own weapons, causing her to glance at Mulan for a moment, "When we beat him, sever his head and take both it and his sword to your Emperor... that should be all the proof they and their people will need to bring honor to your family."

Radiant was a little worried about Sombra saying that, since it sounded like a part of the old Sombra was leaking out of her new persona, but quickly realized that her statement was due to the fact that killing Shan-Yu was the only way for Mulan to get what she wanted, even if it was a little bloody in the end. Mulan, on the other hand, nodded her head as she readied her weapon like the rest of the group had done, which was when the figure emerging from the snow charged at them with his twisted sword, no doubt something made by his people for his eventual conquest. As the battle started Fluttershy leapt into the air and caught the falcon as Shan-Yu directed it to attack, where Sombra chuckled for a moment as the bird chirped after a very brief conversation with her, proving that her animal skill was really one of the stronger ones she had, and it wasn't long before the bird flew over to Squeak's position. Of course that only enraged Shan-Yu as he struck at them with his odd sword, but it was clear that the odds weren't in his favor as he clashed with each of them, one blocking his attacks while one of the others struck him, meaning there was no real way for him to bring them down without sacrificing himself to try and take even one of them out.

In the end Mulan severed Shan-Yu's hand, picked up his sword, and then used both of them to behead the figure, which was the moment that Sombra produced a sack for her to put the head in, allowing her to depart for the Emperor's palace with her head held high for once.

"Are you sure that was the right move?" Seras inquired, because this seemed a little more direct than what they had done in the past, though at the same time Mulan paused as Shan-Yu's sword started to glow, allowing Sora to channel the power of his Keyblade into unlocking the next gate, while returning the weapon to normal.

"Well, we could have allowed Shan-Yu to amass an army of Heartless and attack the Emperor's palace, putting him and all of his people in danger... this was much easier for all of us." Sombra answered, something that caused Radiant to smile, as the safety of the citizens was something she knew her friend had never thought about until this point in time and this meant she had really changed as a person, which made Radiant look forward to seeing how she would deal with the future.

Sombra found that the others, while taken aback by how Shan-Yu was slain, decided to not say much as they started to head back to the Gummi Ship, Fluttershy accompanied by Squeak and the new falcon, even though she was looking forward to what the rest of the adventure had in store for all of them and the worlds they would be visiting.