A/N: This is my attempt at darker fan-fiction, so please don't post reviews bashing my OC. I know that not many people here like OCs, and while I do agree that not every OC is well-developed, I can only hope that this story gets a chance. As a head's up, this is an eventual Sub-Zero/OC pairing.

Also, some of the characters might seem a bit OOC, but I will do my best to keep them as canon as possible. Sub-Zero and Smoke may not be as serious as they are depicted in the actual games, but they are both important to the plot. Having said all of this, please don't be upset with me if the story seems like it isn't focusing on Zeleve. Because I truly want this story to flow naturally, I'm trying very hard to maintain equal balance between Smoke, Sub-Zero, and my OC, and believe me... It isn't easy. Not sure if everyone here has noticed this, but it seems like far too many MK fan-fics focus on strictly OCs, and I'm not about to do that. Hopefully you'll understand my decision to try and maintain an equal balance between all of the characters.

I will also mention that the only cyborgs in this fic are Sektor and Cyrax. Sektor most likely won't be featured, but references to him and other characters will be made. Noob Saibot will appear in random cameos from this point forward, however. I REFUSE TO AUTOMATE SUB-ZERO AND SMOKE.

"Many innocent lives had been taken that fateful day, so very long ago..."

A raven-haired woman sat on the cold, hard ground, quietly pondering her next move. She had taken temporary refuge inside a damp, musty cave, having been there for only a few hours. Her silver eyes focused on the white, icy vicinity visible from the rocky dwelling's wide opening.

The seemingly young woman was exhausted, albeit unfazed. Not many knew of her true personality, and because of that, many would say that she was cold, heartless, among many other things.

Although Zeleve was an enigmatic female, she had a heart of gold. She normally did not side with anyone, for any cause. The woman was not evil, nor entirely good, either... She was neutral.

But like any lone warrior, she had her doubts.

Zeleve had little to no memories of her past, and she always had a difficult time with getting close to anyone. What always concerned her was her ability to wield and manipulate smoke. She did not know of any other human being with that special power.

And she definitely had her insecurities; her sharp, vampire-like fangs being the most prominent one. Because of this unique physical characteristic, Zeleve was often thought to have been Nitara's ally or of her kind.

But unknown to Zeleve herself, she was an Enenra. She was fully aware of her powers, yes, but when she was around other mortals, she would force herself to completely deactivate the black fog that usually emitted from her body. And she had no idea how she'd even acquired the ability to do such, supernatural things. It made her feel... like an abomination.

She only wanted to blend in, and not draw any unwanted attention to herself. However, it wasn't always easy.

The other strange, inhuman trait the female Enenra possessed were her odd-shaped pupils. Her eyes were as silver as the glimmer emanating from the frozen spikes surrounding the cave's exterior, yet deadly like the shine of a warrior's sword.

But despite her insecurities, Zeleve was still beautiful in her human form. Not looking a day over twenty-five, Zeleve had been brainwashed by Quan Chi himself to believe that she was about three hundred years old.

However, that story was one that the Enenra was desperate to forget. She knew that the necromancer was after her, but she did not know why. All she knew, according to myths she'd heard about the pale-skinned sorcerer, was that he was nothing but trouble.

Not to mention a two-timing, selfish bastard only looking out for himself.

Before ending up in her current location, Zeleve had endlessly wandered throughout the tundras of southeastern Greenland, and was already too tired to keep going. She had already traveled on foot nonstop for over three months, but although Zeleve wanted to continue her trek, she took it upon herself to take refuge in this frozen shelter.

It's too cold here, she thought to herself. But I can make it if I try. I have to survive for as long as I can.

The woman had lived a nomadic life for nearly a year by this point. When Zeleve had been near the coastal regions of southern Greenland not even two weeks prior, she did not have much to choose from when searching for food. It was merely a fluke for the female Enenra to have had a rifle on her person, because she definitely had succeeded in shooting a harp seal pup while hunting. She had found the weapon lying around near the outskirts of Nuuk, the capital city of Greenland that same day.

Now? Two weeks had passed, and the woman was hungry. Though she was ignorant to the fact that her physiology was much different than the average Earthrealm human, Zeleve thought that it would only be a matter of time before her energy started waning. Too bad she had disposed of the firearm.

So tired... she thought with a yawn. She figured she could rest in the cave for now, despite not really having a destination in mind.

After all, granted the Enenra's geographical location in the Arctic circle, it was evident that Quan Chi would never be able to find her.

Not here.

Zeleve's exhaustion caught up with her after several minutes of silent thinking, and she unknowingly drifted off to sleep...

Ice blue eyes glared at the conniving woman before them; even white teeth gritting in annoyance beneath a protective face mask. Frost had once again returned to the Lin Kuei temple in attempts to claim the reformed clan as her own.

But Kuai Liang was not having it. He had suffered enough because of this disgraceful woman he'd once had high hopes for.

If only he had known his former apprentice's true intentions from the beginning...

Frost was an interesting woman, and not in the most positive way. She was extremely arrogant, and whenever her voice was heard, it was almost always masked by false bravado. That was one of the multiple reasons why many of her former Lin Kuei brethren did not like her. Many had also tried to kill her despite Sub-Zero's orders.

Even the Grandmaster's long-time best friend and most loyal ally, Smoke, could not understand why he had even allowed this insolent, dispassionate waste of life into their stronghold.

"I know you don't want to hear it, Sub-Zero, but I think you're putting the Lin Kuei at risk by bringing her in," Tomas had told him on Frost's first day as a Lin Kuei. Sub-Zero, however, was too entranced by the young woman's ice-wielding powers at the time. That - according to their allies - was the only reason Kuai Liang had chosen Frost as his apprentice.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out as Sub-Zero hoped. Frost had tried killing her superior once after stealing the Dragon Medallion. When that incident occurred, the Grandmaster feared for his underling's life. But the mystical powers within the Medallion searched Frost's soul, and realized that she was corrupted by evil. Due to having a monstrously villainous taint, the Medallion caused the stunned female Cryomancer to freeze herself with her own powers.

Now, a year later, Frost was standing before her former Sifu. Her eyes gleamed with malice as Sub-Zero backed into a defensive stance. He had laid her frozen body to rest back in Outworld, but to see the pathetic disgrace in person once again was more of a shock to him than an annoyance.

He would kill her this time - even if it meant the safety of himself and his clan; Sub-Zero would die in honor.

For the Lin Kuei, and for the forces of good.

He now glared at the woman with hard cerulean eyes. "Why are you here, Frost? You tried killing me once and failed," Kuai Liang started. As his code-name suggested, Sub-Zero was stern, distant, and very reserved about his innermost emotions. Not even those closest to him knew everything about him. As it was, very few knew of his true identity.

Frost held her hands behind her back as she smirked, rolling her eyes. "That's a good question, Sifu. I figured you'd enjoy knowing that I nearly killed some disgusting female Enenra I encountered a few days ago while making my way back home."

"A female Enenra?" Sub-Zero calmly asked, now slowly circling his former student. "If you couldn't defeat Smoke in combat, there is no way that you could possibly defeat and slay a female of his kind."

About two years prior, Frost had challenged Smoke to a fight after he'd called her out on being a disgrace to their clan during a heated argument.

If there was anything the female Cryomancer hated the most, it was being degraded by her peers. Because of the insult Tomas hurled at her that evening, Frost lunged at the Enenra with a crazed yell, blindly kicking and punching at him.

But Smoke was too fast for the psychotic female, and phased away in a grey haze, before reappearing behind her and punching the woman very hard in the back. Frost yelped, but the Enenra was not done with her yet. Tomas quickly ran behind her before delivering a nearly fatal German-suplex which knocked her out on the spot.

Now, all this time having passed, Frost merely laughed when Sub-Zero rehashed the fight he witnessed between her and his best friend. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Enough about the abomination I challenged. Now, on to the real reason why I'm here!" she yelled.

Suddenly, the power-hungry woman charged at her former Grandmaster, throwing and blocking several punches and kicks, most of which only connected with air. Sub-Zero rolled his eyes as he effectively blocked her attacks with his kori blade.

The fight continued with both Cryomancers evenly matched, but after several parries, punches, kicks, ice attacks, and slashes from both parties, Kuai Liang finally got his opening.

He beheaded the wench with his icy blade just as she readied her hands to project ice right in front of his feet. Frost didn't even have enough time to scream since it happened so quickly. Kuai Liang was equally as bewildered, watching the blood violently drip from Frost's severed neck.

Not surprisingly, the dead female ice-wielder maintained her smug expression, even after having been decapitated.

Unbeknownst to Sub-Zero, however, Smoke had been observing the fight from his spot behind one of the many pillars inside the large throne room.

"A female Enenra?" Tomas whispered in disbelief. All this time, he'd thought that he was the only Enenra in existence, but to know that a female existed was something he'd never imagined possible.

He silently watched on as his best friend cleaned up the bloody mess himself. Smoke did not know exactly how he felt about this sudden news, but he found himself getting curious the more he thought of it.

Although Frost was now dead, the location of the unknown female now piquing Tomas' interest would soon be revealed. Smoke was more than certain that information on this mysterious female would eventually be leaked.

Smoke hoped that she would still be alive by the time he found her, providing that Sub-Zero did not prohibit him from retrieving the woman. The apprehensive Enenra knew that by bringing his female counterpart into the Lin Kuei, she would be safe...

Now, Tomas just needed to win his inner battle and request Sub-Zero's permission to find her.