COLD OPENING COMING ATCHA RIGHT NOW WHOAAAA
She darted around the corner unnoticed, taking care to keep the hood of her robe over her head at all times and her gaze on the ground, lest she unintentionally make eye contact with a random passerby. She hadn't made it this far to have someone spot her and ruin her chances now.
Finally she approached the building she had managed to track down; for a split second, she broke her eye contact with the ground to look up and confirm that she had indeed located the correct property.
A dingy wooden plank creaked as it swung loosely from the iron bar from which it hung; on its face was printed the name of the tavern it was intended to advertise, the elaborate calligraphy appearing much fresher than the wood itself. More than likely, the manager had taken the time to repaint it after the return of the queen, as many others had taken similar measures to finally try and restore their homes and businesses to the splendor Edenia had been renowned for, before the era of Shao Kahn.
However, she did not dwell on the positive sign that the attempt at some upkeeping at last signaled; instead, she quickly pushed her way through the throng of customers and loiterers outside of the pub, readjusting the hood so that it continued to cover her eyes.
Stealing a quick glance around, she scanned the bar to see where her targets had settled down, if they had decided to stay on the first floor at all. Looking the room over the first time proved unsuccessful; but before turning around to make her way out, the woman took another chance and glanced around again, more thoroughly this time. Staying for another moment proved rewarding; as a large, hulking customer, who looked like he may or may not have had a hefty dose of ogre blood swimming somewhere in his gene pool, moved slightly away from the main bar, she caught sight of a familiar brown plait, belonging to the young woman she had trekked along to track down.
The stranger slinked around the room, staying close to the wall as she navigated through the crowd of customers, many of whom chose to stand around instead of leave or wait for a table to open. Using others as cover, she found an open spot on a bench off to the side of the main bar. Standing by it, she noted that she didn't have a clear view of her subjects. However, the opposite was true as well, and so she settled for the seat available.
Keeping her eyes trained on the young lady from before, the woman in the robe noticed from this angle that her male companion was sitting directly next to her. From the glimpse of his face that she could catch from this distance, he oddly seemed to be scoping the room out as well, judging by the furtive glances he stole around the bar when his company wasn't looking.
She narrowed her eyes. She didn't much appreciate the measures this man was obviously taking to deter any stalkers. The nerve!
As she keep a steady gaze locked on her subjects, a particularly rowdy customer two seats down shoved his comrade violently in jest, spilling ale from both iron mugs and causing the stranger next to the hooded woman to jerk back in reaction, unintentionally knocking shoulders with her.
"Excuse me," he apologized, turning to look at her. Unfortunately, she had instinctively turned around as a result of the small accident as well, and in the brief moment that the two should have exchanged docile words and left it at that, she caught a glimpse of the stranger's face, inadvertently letting him see her own as she did a double take.
"...Sindel?" said the man, with a puzzled expression. Mortified, the undercover queen could do nothing but struggle to find the name that somehow didn't fit the face framed by silver hair she was staring back into, but she tried it out anyway.
"Raiden?" Sindel parroted, dumbfounded.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, apparently oblivious to the fact that that was to be her next question addressed to him, possibly more justifiably so.
Embarrassed and a little infuriated, the queen looked back to where her daughter sat with Liu Kang, the latter who had taken a moment away from checking the room for unwanted company to engage in conversation with the princess, who at the moment was blocked from Sindel's view by the ogre.
"I..." Sindel started, still keeping her eyes trained on Liu Kang as she searched for the words. "I just came here to..."
She stopped herself when she realized she wasn't going to be able to provide a reasonable explanation quickly enough. Instead, she turned back to Raiden.
"Why are you here?" she turned his question back on him, a little more nastily than she intended.
Raiden didn't answer immediately, instead raising an eyebrow at the queen's unusually brash demeanor. Whether or not he seemed to be offended by her standoffish nature at the moment wasn't readily obvious, but in any case he didn't address it.
"You could call it detective work," he finally responded nonchalantly, lifting the mug Sindel hadn't realized he had been holding to his lips and taking a swig. Curious because she had never pictured the god of Earthrealm as a casual drinker, Sindel took note of the liquid inside the mug after he brought it back down; on closer inspection, it appeared to be water.
She looked back to where Kitana sat with her lover, still partially blocked from her view by the hulking brute next to her. From what the queen could see, however, her daughter had taken her own precautions before heading out amongst the common people, having fastened a veil that covered all but her eyes.
She was still looking in their direction when she felt a nudge to her shoulder. She looked back to Raiden.
"You never answered my question," he pointed out almost mockingly, taking another sip of water.
Sindel pursed her lips, growing more annoyed by the moment.
"I..." she began again, then sighed. What was the point in talking circles? The truth was probably going to come out at some point anyway.
"...Same thing," she responded through gritted teeth. When she looked back to Kitana, both the hulking patron and her daughter had blocked Liu Kang from her view as well.
Sighing again, Sindel leaned back into the bench, straightening out her robe and crossing her legs. It suddenly occurred to her that Raiden's answer to her first question had been awfully vague.
"...What kind of detective work?" she asked, fidgeting and trying not to maintain eye contact with the deity next to her.
"Just keeping an eye on Liu Kang," Raiden answered, much more bluntly honestly than Sindel had expected. "Not like I could just drop him off here and expect him not to get into trouble, right?"
...What was he talking about? Liu Kang was anything but a wild card, as far as Sindel could tell. Puzzled, she looked back to her companion and noted the humorless smirk on his face. She looked away in embarrassment again for not having gotten the joke.
"Look," Raiden suddenly directed her, pointing with one finger from the hand that held the mug to where the Xiaolin and her daughter sat. Sindel saw Liu Kang stealing some more suspicious glances around the tavern.
"Wonder why he would be so paranoid," Raiden remarked dryly, taking another sip from the cup.
"Are you not concerned that he might recognize you?" Sindel inquired. Her companion shrugged his shoulders, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
"Not likely," he replied. "I was never really the type to let my hair down."
At first Sindel took this to mean the common Earthrealm expression, which would make sense; as far as she knew Raiden, he wasn't one to maintain anything less than a stern disposition with his followers. However, after turning the phrase over in her mind, she saw through its second meaning; was it possible that Raiden literally had never let his students see him without some kind of head covering? If so, it stood to reason; she had not initially recognized her old acquaintance when she had sat down next to him. If Liu Kang was looking around for a sign of the familiar rice paddy hat, there was a slim chance he would be able to pinpoint the silver-haired god dressed in simple, loose-fitting garments within the crowded pub. Of course, there remained the question of why Raiden felt the need to 'keep an eye' on his student in the first place; but this didn't seem appropriate to ask outright.
"I could imagine having a hard time spotting you as well," Raiden continued, gesturing to her. "I certainly did not recognize you at first glance, either."
Then she had partially achieved her objective. It was rare enough that Sindel opted to walk around the Edenian palace without makeup, virtually unheard of that she roam the streets without it. Without the bold dark purple that usually adorned her lips and eyes, she hoped it would be difficult for the casual onlooker to recognize their esteemed queen. Luckily, it seemed Raiden's response was confirmation enough that her plan had worked.
That wasn't the only measure she had taken to conceal her identity; as they spoke, the mass of hair that she had stuffed carefully within her robe again began to irritate the back of her neck, prompting her to dig uncomfortably inside the hood of her robe to scratch it.
"Uh, thank you?" she responded, half-paying attention to her partner. She continued to keep her eyes trained on the spot where her daughter sat, even when she was blocked from view.
There was no more word from Raiden for a minute or so, much to Sindel's relief; although under normal circumstances she would never be so rude as to shun a guest (and a god, no less) to the Edenian kingdom, she simply didn't have time for conversation at the moment. Hopefully Raiden understood, considering his similar position.
After about two minutes she again felt a small nudge to her shoulder. She looked back to the deity to see him point to a recently cleared table. Understanding his implication, and pleasantly surprised that he apparently wasn't at all hesitant to enable her behavior, Sindel tugged the brim of her hood down as she followed him to the small, cramped booth against the wall.
They situated themselves on the cold, hard seats of the crudely constructed booth, both of them now partially obscured from their subjects by the old curtain that hung in front of it. Sindel quickly yanked it back a little to see where they sat in relation to their prey now; although they were farther away from before, the oaf next to Kitana no longer blocked her from their view, which was a plus.
But, knowing she couldn't keep the curtain drawn for long without looking suspicious, Sindel let it drop, folding her arms in front of her on the table. Suddenly she became aware of the privacy the booth was intended to offer for its customers as she sat across from Raiden. She shuffled a bit, thinking maybe it was on her to break the silence. Her companion, however, seemed to pay it no mind, instead continuing to drink from his mug.
But the question from earlier remained on her mind.
"Why did you follow Liu Kang here?" she asked bluntly. He put the mug down.
"We had a small altercation recently," he stated calmly. Exactly where he was looking was difficult to discern; although his eyes did not seem to be glowing with their normal intensity, there was still enough of a soft haze around them that masked the direction in which he looked. Sindel briefly wondered if this was a trait over which he had some kind of control.
"What about?" she inquired. He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked off to his side.
"...We do not get along as we used to," he responded simply.
Sindel frowned. She had only heard of Liu Kang briefly after her revival, but from what she had heard from the sorcerers who had returned her soul to the mortal realm, he had been one of Raiden's most devoted students. Lately, however, she had begun to hear of the monk's souring relations with everybody around him after Raiden's forces had narrowly managed to avert invasion of the realms by Shinnok's forces; everybody, that was, save for Kitana, who had herself begun to spend a notable amount of time with the Earthrealmer. Though she wouldn't say it to Raiden, seeing her long-lost daughter suddenly affiliating with the young man who had purportedly done an about-face in terms of personality unnerved her enough to the point that it partially spurned her to follow them today. However, it seemed that the deity sitting across from her had somehow read her mind.
"Perhaps it is for the best that you followed them here, as well," he said. She snapped her head up to look at him, stunned.
"Kitana probably does not realize that she is lucky to have a mother who is willing to go to such ends to protect her," he finished.
Sindel didn't answer. It didn't seem right that Raiden would condone this type of behavior. Before she could comment on it, however, a waitress pulled the fabric open, prompting her to dip her head down in order to hide within her hood.
"Is there anything else I can get you, sir?" the young lady (a relative term; she may have been around 9,000) inquired politely.
"No, thank you," Raiden answered.
"What about your...?"
The woman paused, unsure of what to call his mysterious companion. Sindel didn't offer any answer.
"Forgive my partner," Raiden spoke for her. "She is mute. She will have water as well."
"Oh," the young lady said, afraid she may have offended the older woman. She stepped back out of the booth and bowed. "Very well."
As she left to fetch a cup for Sindel, the queen lifted her gaze from the table and opened the curtain slightly in time to see Liu Kang brush a strand of hair from her daughter's face. Kitana's eyes crinkled at the edges as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, provoking a heated glare from the silver-haired banshee. It was something about the monk's expression that set her off; there wasn't malice, nor appreciation. Rather, there seemed to be no interest in his countenance whatsoever. Obviously this didn't seem to deter Kitana one bit, as she continued to chuckle and playfully rub his chest. It sickened Sindel.
"How long do you think this will take?" Raiden suddenly asked her. She turned to look at him.
"All night, if it comes to that," she replied with resolve strong in her voice. Raiden closed his eyes and raised both eyebrows, lifting his mug again.
"Suit yourself."
Sindel went back to observing the couple, tugging more on her hood when it began to slip backwards. After having the curtain open for about half a minute, Sindel let it drop again, not wanting to risk the off-shot glance that would potentially blow her cover.
"Looks like we will be here for a while," she remarked offhandedly.
Raiden took another sip from his mug.
About an hour or two passed, the majority of it spent peeking between and under the drapes of the booth. The mug of water sat untouched on Sindel's side of the table, whilst Raiden lazily continued to drink from his own, checking past the curtain about half the amount Sindel did. At this point, he was resting his chin in his hand, his eyes drooped half-closed.
As much as she had her attention trained on the happy couple, Raiden's current state didn't escape the queen. She looked at the bored god, feeling guilty that she had not done her duty as an Edenian to make her guest feel at home.
"Is there anything else you would like to drink?" she asked, leaning forward on the table.
He shook his head less than emphatically, keeping his eyes closed.
"No, thank you," he replied lethargically. She leaned back.
"Well, I am in the mood for something different," she chided, smiling warmly. He opened his eyes a little bit. "So if you would be so kind as to act as my interpreter again, would you mind ordering a little something on my behalf?"
He raised both eyebrows, chin still in palm.
"Like what?" he inquired.
"Are you familiar with Master Bo's ale?" she asked in return. A look of what seemed like either apprehension or a sneer, it was hard to tell with Raiden, crossed the deity's face. He sat straight up.
"Um..." he said, fixing his robe with the hand not still holding the mug.
"Quickly! Here she comes!" Sindel interrupted, tugging her hood down again as the waitress came walking close to the booth. Raiden hesitated; he hadn't expected things to take the turn they suddenly had, but he certainly did not want to offend his hostess, and so he stuck his arm out of the curtain to call the young lady over.
"Excuse me!" he called out over the din of the pub. A moment later the girl was by the table, holding a precariously balanced tray of drinks.
"Yes, sir?" she asked.
"When you get the chance, my friend here is in the mood for some of... Master Bo's ale?"
The young woman paused and glanced towards the hooded figure, no doubt wondering what means this man had of interacting with the mute.
"...uh, yes, sir, right away," she said with a warm smile, ducking her head out of the curtain and leaving to attend to her other customers first.
Sindel lifted the hem of her hood to check that the waitress had left; with the girl out of the way, she quickly stole another glance at Raiden, and was surprised to see the thunder god holding his chin in the palm of his hand once more, his fingers partially covering his lips, his expression strangely contemplative.
"Is something wrong?" Sindel asked. Had she offended him? Did he have a problem with alcohol?
The deity perked up upon being addressed; he dropped his hand and moved to face her more directly, his expression clearing up immediately.
"No, not at all," he assured her in a tone that was drastically more conversational than anything he had said all night. Sindel scrunched her eyebrows in concerned suspicion.
"Are you sure?" she prodded. He nodded less than enthusiastically.
She leaned back into her seat, not completely satisfied with his answer and still sensing something amiss. But she didn't dare pry any more than she already had; it simply wasn't her business.
She glanced past the curtain in an attempt to distract herself momentarily; to her surprise, she saw Kitana sitting by herself, staring lonesomely into her drink. Sindel stared at her daughter, looking around her to see what had happened to the monk. She did not expect, however, for the princess to look up suddenly in her direction.
Panicking, the queen dropped the curtain and yanked her hood forward, sitting rigidly.
"What happened?" Raiden asked in concern. His only response was an angry finger to her lips and a hissed "shhh!"
Sindel stared at the table for what she gauged had to be a least a minute, during which neither she nor the god spoke. After nothing happened, she cautiously peeked through the slit in the curtain once more.
Kitana had returned her attention to her drink just as Liu Kang entered the queen's line of vision from her right. As the Xiaolin draped an arm around his companion's shoulders, it became clear that Kitana was not acting on her suspicions, if she had any at all and Sindel was just being paranoid.
"Is everything okay?" she heard Raiden ask without looking at him.
"I think so," she replied, sitting back up and letting her hood fall back a little. "False alarm. We should be fine."
"...I meant you," he clarified. She looked back to him, finally noticing the slightly bewildered expression he wore from witnessing the entire incident. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, and very ashamed for making such a scene.
"I am fine," she said softly, looking down at the table. For a while she left the issue of her daughter with the warrior alone, especially since she could sense his growing weariness with the matter, perhaps even with her presence at the table.
She looked up and saw him leaning on the table again, this time staring into his (presumably by now) empty cup, holding it with both hands.
Someone parted the curtain just then.
"Here's your drink, ma'am," the waitress chimed, happily setting the frothing mug in front of Sindel.
The queen looked up at the hostess, giving her a solid nod of appreciation. Smiling, the girl bounced away as she began to receive calls from some of the tavern's rowdier clientele. It was then that Sindel realized that there had been no point in hiding her identity from the girl. She had been dead long before someone her age had been born. None of Edenia's youth knew what she looked like.
She looked back to her cup, the sticky foam threatening to spill over the rim, giving off a pungent, intoxicating odor. She grabbed the handle, unsure if this was the same recipe she was familiar with before her death. She sniffed the liquid, gagged a little, and then tested it out with a small sip. The flavor burned her throat as it made its way down, forcing an unintended hiss from the royal. She wondered what in her right mind had prompted her to order such a putrid concoction, until the smooth, buttery aftertaste began to settle on her palate.
She licked her lips, hearing a low chuckle from across the table. She looked up to see the amused expression on her friend's face, his fingers failing to conceal the side of his mouth turned upwards, most likely an intentional gesture.
"Having some trouble with that?" he taunted her.
"Very well, then," she responded, putting the mug down and pushing it across to him. "Try it for yourself."
He leaned back as the mug came towards him, like she had presented some kind of rabid animal instead. Immediately it seemed the god of thunder was ready to eat his words.
"I doubt there is any water left in that cup of yours," Sindel challenged him, folding her arms in front of her. He stared sheepishly at her, obviously regretting his joke. But he submitted; he grabbed the handle, taking a cautious whiff as he had seen her do, with much of the same reaction. He blinked a few times, probably trying to keep the fumes from burning his eyes. Lids shut, he brought the cup to his lips; she was surprised to see him take it so well before he gagged, covering his mouth with his sleeve as he slammed the mug down on the table. She watched him cough lightly, half amused and half worried she had provoked some kind of bizarre allergic reaction (if that was even a possibility for gods).
"Wrong pipe?" she asked him, watching him wipe the last few drops from his chin with the hem of his sleeve. He coughed one more time before shaking his head.
"Almost," he responded, sighing loudly. He looked at the cup for a moment, and somehow Sindel could tell that he, too, was feeling the aftertaste of the drink kick in by the way that he drew his shoulders back, his expression less repulsed than before.
"...Not bad," he finally admitted. "But very strong."
"I know," she joked, taking the mug back and sipping some of the froth off the top. Briefly, she peeked past the curtain and saw Kitana and Liu Kang laughing over a small tea kettle. The ogre that had been sitting next to her daughter was now replaced by a intimidating looking fellow with dark eyes and a tattoo of some kind of mythical beast that went from his temple down to behind his shoulder. Something occurred to Sindel at that moment.
"Do your monks not take vows of celibacy, Raiden?" she inquired. She did not receive an immediate answer.
"...Liu Kang's circumstances are... different," she heard her friend say. "But he knows what is expected of him."
She wasn't sure if that made her feel any better as she continued to watch her daughter talking very intimately with the champion. Sindel stared into her drink for a moment, suddenly pushing it back to her companion.
"Take it," she ordered, to a bemused Raiden. "I've had enough."
"Um..." the divinity hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Just take it," she insisted.
He paused, tentatively placing his hand on the handle once more. He gripped it unsurely, raising the mug to his lips again and taking a much more substantial sip; although it prompted him to scrunch his nose somewhat, this time it went down much more smoothly, and he set it back down. A content hum escaped from his lips.
"... maybe we have taken this a little too far," he suddenly admitted. Sindel jerked upright at the suggestion.
"What do you mean?" she asked sharply.
"Look at us," he said, resting his elbow on the edge of the seat behind him. "We have been watching two people do nothing but talk all night. What were you expecting to happen?"
She blinked once.
"What are you doing here, then?" she snapped back, indignant. "You are free to go at any time."
She could hear the air blowing out from his nostrils. No doubt he was rolling his eyes right now, too.
"Forget it," he said, sipping from the mug much more readily this time.
She placed her chin in the palm of her hand and sighed. The booth seemed much more cramped than before. She recalled a common Earthrealm idiom; what was it? "Cabin fever"? Did that even apply to tables at a restaurant? At any rate, all she knew was that she could go for a refreshing change of scenery at this point, but as long as her daughter sat just beyond that curtain, there was little she could do.
She crossed her arms and watched the god across from her take a long chug from the cup, impressed at how long he was able to go for without coming up for air. He dropped the iron mug on the table harshly, again wiping a few lost drops with the hem of his sleeve. He closed his eyes, leaned back into his seat; she took the opportunity to glance into the mug while he wasn't looking. To her shock, it was completely empty.
She glanced up at him, noting the traces of dour tiredness in his expression. Unfortunately, she didn't foresee his eyes flying open suddenly, brighter than before; she flinched and looked away, intimidated and once again self-conscious under the deity's gaze. Did he take offense to being looked at directly? This wasn't the Raiden she remembered.
She felt the curtain rustle next to her. Peeking at her guest out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raiden waving someone over again, much more vigorously this time (and snapping his fingers to boot). She drew in her breath sharply and tugged her hood forward as a new waiter appeared by the table.
"Yes, sir?" the busboy asked, a young man with dark hair and a notably less sunny disposition than his coworker. He was answered with a cold mug to the gut, grunting as Raiden drew his hand back.
"Another round of that ale, when you get the chance," the silver-haired patron demanded offhandedly. Irritated, the waiter took the cup from him and walked away, leaving Raiden and Sindel alone once more.
His body was turned slightly away from her, out to the direction the table opened to the rest of the tavern. To the casual onlooker, he was staring in that direction as well, but Sindel got the nagging feeling once more that he was looking at her out his peripheral vision. He said nothing, however, instead choosing to rest his head against the ball of his palm, his elbow once again on top of the seat's edge. She began to fear she had made a mistake in egging him on to take the alcohol.
The only sound was the din of the pub.
So this was kinda rushed out, but I really wanted to do a Sindel-centric fic, since I feel there are so little that really involve the queen, which is weird, considering how much she's tied to some of the main parts of the game's backstory.
Second chapter coming in the next few days after proofing. :)