trans_9 | (no subject)

Reconnaissance was both a duty to her captain, and a way for Mulan to satisfy her burning curiosity about the new world that fate had brought her to. And so the young Chinese soldier skittered through Stacy's halls, quietly, purposefully, and above all, curiously.

She was glad she'd found her armor, along with her sword, her bow, and her quiver, in the Possessions locker. Her armor would be hot and heavy to wear in this humid environment, but at least it concealed the embarrassingly form-fitting suit the ship had given her. It was much preferable to be slightly uncomfortable at all hours of the day then to be walking around in what would have qualified in her time as nothing but the barest of underclothing. With her armor on and her hair tied back, she looked more like the boy she had become used to pretending to be, the boy she had just been growing accustomed to not having to be back home.

As she explored, she kept her bow, arrow notched and at the ready. She'd heard enough about the dangers that had already beset the crew, though she had the sense not to pull back on the string at the first signs of movement. The people here were abductees, like her, dragged from their strange foreign worlds into an equally strange and foreign one. It would not do to shoot any of them for no reason.

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She whirls on him with the bow, but does not fire. Consternated at being surprised, she says, "I could ask you the same thing, and I will. I am Fa Mulan, soldier of China. Who are you?"

"Robin." After a pause, he adds, "Protector of Gotham." He scoffs a little at the bow. "Surely you don't think you could hurt me with that, especially at this range."

She already does not like this boy. He is a braggart and looking for a fight that would be dishonorable to start.

"A soldier of China defends himself and his country. He does not enter into boasting matches with braggarts, so you will not be finding out, as we are not enemies and have no reason to be."

And the bow is down. So there!

It's mutual, though that's mostly because Damian doesn't like many people. "I wasn't bragging. A ranged weapon's just useless in a close quarters fight." Though he could brag. He assumes he's better than her. He tends to assume he's better than most people.

She just frowns. "If I have answered your questions, I'll be on my way."

He scowls back. "Fine. Goodbye."

She sighs. "Wait."

She doesn't like his attitude, but that doesn't excuse her having one.

"I have been rude. You are probably a member of the security team, patrolling for threats, and what is more threatening than someone wandering the halls with a weapon out? I am the one who is in the wrong. I apologize."

Damian hesitated. But he had no reason to lie. He didn't care if she didn't like his attitude. Her opinion doesn't matter. "I'm not security."

"No?"

But - he seemed so authoritative. If nasty.

"Then for whom do you work?"

"Myself." Or Batman, but Damian was his own man. He only obeyed Batman because it was convenient, at least, that's what he told Grayson and himself.