It was raining for once in Outworld.
Which was a rarity now and days it would seem.
Unfortunately, while the torturous sun had disappeared behind the dark, rolling clouds for now, its influence was still evident in the persistent humidity that hung heavy in the air. The consistent downpour of rain had little effect on the lingering heat, and did little to break the temperature- unable to even offer the slight of refuge from the oppressive atmosphere.
The rain felt warm and sticky on her skin as Tanya hurried down the narrow street and ducked into the apartment building on her right- graciously welcoming the dry interior. A stroll through the rain hadn't exactly been penned in to her schedule for the day, especially not one that clung to her skin like sweat instead. If there were any sort of days that made her miss Edenia the most, it was these ones. The Nirvana realm was known for its rainy weather, often times overshadowing their sunny days by twofold, but the rain was always light and crisp; it was refreshing and cool.
It was nothing like this- nothing like Outworld.
But those days were behind her for now, and until things were corrected... she would make due.
Giving off an irritated sigh, Tanya brushed the sticking rain from her face and started towards the nearby stairs; she only gave pause when one of the handmaidens hurried forward to give her a towel to dry off with.
She gave a brief thanks and started up the stairs, careful with her wet heels, and dried herself off as she worked her way to the top floor. She wasn't the least bit surprised to find the towel more damp than dry- no doubt to wipe the rain off with better ease.
It had been a slow day for her.
Mostly because the Empress had been out all morning with her armies.
And without attending to the Empress' needs, Tanya busied herself with other tedious matters that still needed to be done. She spent most of the morning securing the proper maps they would need for their next advancement on the Osh-Tekk, and then spent a greater part of the afternoon doing a proper count of their supplies. Not that she didn't trust the advisors who had been put in place to do so- but she did find some discrepancies in their reported numbers. At the very least, she ended up proving that their supply numbers were actually higher than reported, so no one would be losing their heads this time.
Once those matters were done with, she spend some of her time browsing the marketplace, but found that nothing had caught her interest there.
Coming to the top floor, Tanya made her way across the small commons room, and into the following sun room, before she made her way towards the bedroom. She tossed the towel into a nearby hamper, and immediately went to plucking off her heavy bracelets and necklace, which she deposited into a glass bowl on the nearby table. Fingers worked off her gloves next, which she laid flat on the table as well, before she rubbed at her skin- irritated by the sticky rain water still.
She briefly wondered if the Empress had even returned yet, but upon stepping into their shared bedroom, she got her answer.
Tanya smiled lightly as she spotted the woman sprawled out on their shared bed.
The Empress was tucked sleeping on her left side, exposing her back to the open doorway, and had her legs slightly curled behind her. A rather compact way of sleeping, but Tanya often wondered if it was a subconscious habit that drew from being created in the flesh pits- which were cramped enough with abominations and experiments devoid from sorcery.
She found it rather cute though.
But the fact that Mileena was sleeping on top of the pulled covers of the bed said plenty enough about her day.
Making arrangements with her armies was never an easy task- especially not when her Generals had a tendency of picking fights with one another. They all fell silent at the Empress' glare, but that didn't mean she didn't have to silence them herself one way or another from time to time. Sometimes there were arguments, and sometimes there were all out fights amongst the ranks.
Thankfully the hierarchy never budged though, and the fights proved to be nothing more than restless blood.
So no, Tanya wasn't surprised to find the woman exhausted already at midday.
Nor was she surprised to find the radio quietly playing from the bedside table- a subtle instrumental tune made of strings and a pan flute.
Slowly walking across the room, Tanya stepped out of her heels and tossed them aside, taking note of the Empress' boots nearby, before she eased herself into the bed as well. She made careful not to disturb the woman as she drew herself up against the Empress' back, and slowly draped a loose arm over her.
Tanya tucked her head against the back of her shoulder, and breathed her in.
She took in the familiar scent of musty rainwater, and sweat; the scent of male Tarkatans worked up on testosterone and battling with one another in a show of strength. The rotting scent of the Kuatan jungle, filled with dangerous plant life, and even more hazardous wildlife. The smell of perfect leather against her skin, tailored and molded to fit her and only her.
But she could also pull in the soft, almost citrus kind of scent that lingered underneath the dust and dirt of Outworld. The scent that had come from the bath the two of them had shared that morning, when she had scrubbed the woman down with a homemade body wash- much to the Empress' dismay.
"How do you expect my men to respect me when I smell like this?"
Tanya smiled briefly at the question as she worked her palms against the woman's tense back, working up a thick, sweet-scented lather on her pale skin. Mileena might've been complaining about the smell, but she certainly wasn't objecting to any of the physical aspects of the cleaning. Balancing her touch between exfoliating the Empress' skin, and giving her a brief massage, Tanya felt the woman just about melt into her hands.
"Just because you are part Tarkatan does not mean you have to smell like one."
The woman made a low, churning growl in the depth of her throat, but didn't push the matter.
Tanya brushed her lips against the back of Mileena's shoulder, hearing a quiet murmur drift from the woman's lips, although she didn't stir much after that; the woman was still caught in deep sleep. Still, the reaction was enough to persuade her to do it again- this time at the back of Mileena's neck, which seemed to entice a slight twitch from the sleeping woman.
She peppered soft, quiet kisses against Mileena's back- kissing between the thin leather straps of her top. Her lips brushed against uneven, coarse tissue that felt like tiny knots underneath her touch; knots that paved out the different scars that littered the woman's back. Tanya touched at the previous wounds left behind by other Tarkatans- wounds that healed into red streaks against her white skin.
Mileena was the Empress, but in the stepping stones to get to that throne, not all of the bladed fools flocked to her. Some of them questioned her, challenged her- spat that her half-Tarkatan blood didn't entitle her to anything.
And when they came at her, scratched at her, bit at her...
They lead themselves to slaughter.
She stood victorious every single time, no matter how many times, or how much they ripped into her. The delusional fools attempted to dismember, disembowel- attempted to rip her in half even, but Mileena wielded the touch of death. Where they cut, she lashed out, slicing them apart at the throat- either by her nails, or with her Sais.
Those who so easily mocked her weapons, claiming they were too short, too dull for battle, always ended up with one impaling them through the head. Often times, they ended up having their severed skulls pinned into walls, pinned in by her Sais; a decorative warning.
And no matter how bloodied she might've been, might've gotten, Mileena always welcomed more fighters from the crowd.
"Tsk, honestly, you should've killed them on sight."
Her frustrated remark earned a brief chuckle from the woman, who only winced as she pressed the wet rag against her bloodied shoulder once more- trying to soak up as much excess blood as she could from the injury.
"They were immature, and naive," Mileena replied instead. "They learned their lesson; they will not strike again."
Tanya frowned as she held pressure against the jagged wound for a few seconds longer, before she pulled the rag away. The cut was long and deep, cutting hard into the woman's shoulder, and leaving the skin jagged in its wake; the rising clouds of blue and purple around the injury were only a testament to how hard the strike had come at her. Her right arm could've easily been cut completely off had the swing been more direct- had the young Tarkatan been more experienced.
But he wasn't, and she was left with little more than a jagged wound that would soon heal into yet another scar.
Picking up the pressed leaves at her side, Tanya carefully began layering them on top of the raw wound- making sure to overlap the leaves where they were needed. The leaves came from a plant deep in the Kuantan Jungle; the plant itself was difficult to spot, and even more difficult to reach considering it only grew in the heart of the Leech-Snake territory. She had only been able to get it a handful of times, and what little she could get usually lasted her a few months.
But as of lately, it seemed like she was having to go more often- more often than she was comfortable with.
The injury looked bad now, but by tomorrow morning, it would be healed up and hardly noticeable.
"They shouldn't have struck in the first place," Tanya continued. "How dare they raise their hand to you."
"You don't understand Tarkatans," Mileena reminded.
"I understand you."
Fingertips trailed down along the woman's vulnerable stomach, feeling how more scars collected underneath her fingertips.
A few of them came from the Osh-Tekk, who had wielded axes and hammers in combat- shouting screams and war cries in their tribal language. Tanya was certain however, that after facing against her own Tarkatan kind herself, Mileena barely even felt the injuries left by the blue-skinned madmen.
Fingers brushed over the large scar that had torn through the Empress' right side- a wound given to her by the Osh-Tekk leader himself. His cursed blade had cut through her flesh and muscle like paper, but what might've been a killing blow on a lesser person was nothing to her.
Mileena still walked away from that battle on her own two feet- something that not many could do, if anyone else at all.
Although, that wasn't to say that the Empress didn't curl up in her lap during the carriage ride home though- spilling blood into the cracks of the floorboards.
Tanya draped her arm around the woman once more, this time managing to wrap both of them around her as she held onto Mileena. Hands skirted gentle skims against her stomach and ribs, feeling the woman shiver slightly at the contact- knowing well how sensitive her abdomen was to the touch. She moved in closer to Mileena's neck, kissing it, and once more feeling the subtle pattern of scars underneath her lips.
These ones were small, punctured scars that were just big enough to bring notice if one knew what to look for. They created a braille pattern from the curve of her neck down to her shoulder, just barely skirting over her collarbones.
A slight skirmish with some members from the vampire tribe nearby had resulted in a battle of teeth and bites; a battle of who had the stronger jaw, the stronger hold over someone's throat. It wasn't often that the vampire members were sighted, let alone battled- more often than not, they were brushed aside as rumors. But this was Outworld, and there was hardly anything that Outworld didn't have in its possession.
The battle resulted in the Empress being given a neck full of scars, and the vampire tribe losing a warrior or two to her more vicious bite. And the loss only stalled at two because the vampire leader had stepped in, calling for a stop to the skirmish- seemingly unimpressed by the act.
A trade of batted words and amused grins resulted in a surprising treaty with the Blood Goddess, Nitara. The Vampiress had heard of their battles with the Osh-Tekk, with Kotal Kahn, and seemed willing to hand her forces over to aid in the ongoing war. It seemed like too good of a stroke of luck, too easy, and spontaneous to work without strings attached to the offer.
And there were strings, but not the kind she figured- not that kind she anticipated.
They wanted their blood realm back; their homeland, which had been ripped away from them by the departed Shao Kahn.
Just like Edenia.
Kotal Kahn wished to keep them all captive here, in Outworld, underneath his heel.
But the Empress would grant them freedom.
Tanya heard Mileena give off another groan, felt the woman move around in her hold, before she slowly pushed herself up and out of her arms. She caught sight of the red markings on the Empress' arms and back lighting up for a few seconds- Mileena's energy responding to her own; a trait amongst Edenians. She even felt her own markings, orange and yellow against her dark skin, turn warm in response.
There was a slight snort from her lips, before the woman turned to look over to her.
Mileena brushed the back of her hand across her jagged mouth, rubbing it over her mutilated cheek. Her teeth could cut a man at the slightest indication of attack, and yet they were harmless when she chose them to be. It was a little difficult to comprehend how she was able to do so, but the Empress was capable of anything.
Her dark hair fell messily around her, tangled up by the sudden nap, and her lips were slightly twisted in a look that said she hadn't meant to wake up so early.
"Dearest," Mileena mused; her voice a little husky as well.
"Empress," she replied, grinning a little at the woman's pet name for her. "Did you finalize your next plan of attack with your Generals?"
The woman snorted once more in answer. "It was like plucking ribs, but it is done," she answered, as she slowly rolled over to face her, before she plopped back down against the bed. "How was your day?"
Such a normal question, a normal topic- and yet it seemed all that much odder to hear it coming from the Empress' lips.
"Boring," Tanya answered, letting her fingertips trail up and down Mileena's arm- watching as her markings fluctuated with the touch. "I corrected an issue with our current supplies, and then had the cartographer update our maps to show a more accurate count of our reclaimed territories. You would be surprised at how good your armies look on a map-" She stopped slightly in the midst of talking, taking note of the woman's closed eyes and slowed breathing. "Empress, you're falling asleep on me."
"No, I'm not."
Even her words were muffled and slurred- unable to convey her insistence.
Tanya smiled at the attempt, before she moved her fingers to brush through Mileena's hair- gently brushing it out of her face.
"Whatever you say, Empress."