Erron continued to stare off in the direction the girl had disappeared, even after she was long gone from his sight. What was it about her that was so endearing to him? Normally he would blame it on the booze, but he knew he hadn't drank nearly enough for the alcohol to affect him. He was also aware of the looks and hushed talk directed his way.

"Heh, heh, heh... fa'ncy that wan do you? She 'ees a lov'ly veexin, no?" An outworld humanoid creature seated next to him chuckled at Erron's transfixion. "Eh'ven for an Earthrealm girl. And I deh'spize Earthrealm whores."

So she was an Earthrealm girl after all. What was she doing in Outworld?

His thoughts were interrupted once again by the announcer for the taverns dancers, "Remember, you can request a special private dance from one of our gifted ladies! They are guaranteed to bewitch you. You will not be able to resist coming back for more!" He boomed, the rest of his announcement went on non-caring ears. That was all Erron cared to hear.

Other women from the tavern began closing in on the men nearby, in search for their next customer. Erron watched as some wrapped their selves around the women, or took their hands to be whisked away. An obvious thought crossed his mind, and he pushed himself up to stand, adjusted his hat with a quick tap on the brim, and walked over to the announcer seated at a podium overlooking the dancers area.

The announcer was mid-sentence when Erron came to a stop by him, and he glanced down to him. He recognized him as the Kahn's personal guard. "Yes, Mr. Black?" He asked warily. It was obvious he knew enough to fear him.

"I want one of those private dances you was talkin' about." He answered, loosely gripping his holster in the front.

The announcer seemed relieved, knowing now what the mercenary wanted. "Heh, heh," he chuckled, still nervously, "Of course, Mr. Black. Any specific vixen you have in mind?"

"The one you call 'Raven'."

The announcer smirked knowingly before raising a hand in the air to snap his fingers, flicking two fingers back and forth, motioning for a tavern guard to come over.

"Yes, sir?" The guard looked to the announcer.

"Fetch Raven for me, will you?" The announcer ordered. "She has a customer."

"Right away." The guard complied and turned to walk off.

Erron glanced around the room in anticipation. After what felt like minutes, he began tapping one of his fingers on the grip of one of his pistols. He was impatient, but knew some things were worth the wait.

Finally the guard returned, to Erron's disappointment the girl was not with him. If it weren't for the fact he was wearing a mask, his frown would've been very obvious.

As if sensing Erron's displeasure, the announcer asked "Well? Where is she?"

"With another client. She should be finished in a few minutes. I've already told the guard stationed at her door to bring her whence she is done."

Erron did not like that, at all.

The announcer sighed, and then nodded, prompting the guard to return to other duties.

"If you could, please wait here. She will come for you in a few minutes."

Erron exhaled lowly in irritation but turned to take a seat nearby.

Minutes passed and by now anyone could see by Erron's body language and eyes that he was irritable. He hated waiting, and it didn't help his mood knowing that another man was the reason for it. It was strange; he had never actually met the girl, did not know her -- not one thing about her other than the fact she was an exotic dancer at this tavern... so why was he so... jealous? The thought of it annoyed him further. He didn't care about anyone else but himself.

The thoughts died out again as he finally saw what he had been waiting for. Immediately he lifted his head as he watched the approaching figure. She was dressed differently now; wearing a teal and black strapless top that barely covered each breast but left the center of her chest completely open, a dark silver cuff around each upper arm just a couple of inches from her shoulders that had small chains linking to a black choker around her neck, a long silk skirt that matched the top sat lowly on her waist with a dark silver chain along the top holding it in place, with a slit all the way up the front left side that revealed her entire left leg with every step she took; and black open toed high heels with dark silver spikes as the heel. Her hair remained the same as before; pulled into a low ponytail between her shoulder blades, with some loose strands resting over her shoulders and chest, framing her face. Her ears also were adorned with jewelry all over; large black plugs with 2 smaller black jewels rest on her lobes, the cartilage of her tragus' were pierced as well as the cartilage along the top of her ears.

Erron smirked beneath his mask, he definitely liked what he saw.

"Ahhhh, Raven, dear, you have a customer waiting for you." The announcer motioned to her.

She had the same look as before, it was blank, almost devoid of any life. It was the only thing about her Erron did not like. As he stood to his feet and walked towards her, she turned her head in his direction to give him a startled look.

The announcer chuckled, "Mr. Black is a very special customer. Do make him happy." He ordered, and with a snap of his fingers he signaled for her to get to work fast.

As if on Que, she put up a facade and then hesitantly turned back to her new customer. She swallowed nervously before slowly approaching him, forcing herself to make eye contact as she did and then stopped mere inches from him. They stared at one another in silence for what felt like eons. Surprisingly, she was the one to break the silence between them.

"Back for more, cowboy?" She flashed a small smirk.

Although she couldn't see it, he did the same, although his was much bigger and genuine. "For a pretty little thing like you? Damn straight."

To hide any faults in her facade, she quickly moved, ready to get this over with as soon as she could. Erron grunted softly, slightly stunned at her contact as she wrapped her arms around his waist, gently gliding them back out and around as her hands ran along the front of his upper thighs, painfully close to his now hardening member that twitched in excitement. (It had definitely been way too long)

Another second later and she had turned around, still keeping their close proximity intact as she pressed her rear into his waist, he groaned slightly as she took hold of his hands, bringing them around her front as she gingerly placed one on her stomach, gliding it slowly down to rest on her hip and then entwining her fingers with his other hand. He was a little disappointed when she pulled away, but it was replaced with excitement once again as she turned to smirk at him once again before tugging him along. Yeah, he definitely was in a much better mood now.

The girl continued to tug Erron along; weaving through crowds of men and women. Lots of the bystanders would stop in their tracks when they noticed Erron. After walking a little ways, she pulled him through a curtain of beads, which led into a darkened room. Erron used his free hand to push the strands out of the way for his head and body to pass through freely. He was moving more carefully now with the thickened darkness. A little further in, dimmed lights gave way for him to see more clearly. Candles were lined across the entirety of the right wall, as well as a few placed around each doorway that lined the left side. The rooms were actually lacking real doors. Instead there were rough, faded and grimy looking tapestries hanging in their place. The room had a thick musty stench, as well as the scent of smoke in the air. Faint moans and groans could be heard emanating from within the tiny rooms, and at the end of the hall, there were two guards standing next to each other talking faintly.

The two of them finally came to a stop and Erron eyed her backside curiously, anticipating what she would do now. She seemed to be observing the guards at the end of the hall, and a moment later she gave a soft pull on his hand once more as she slowly strode towards the men.

The men ceased their conversation and turned to eye the approaching dancer and mercenary. She halted again a few feet away.

"I have another customer who wants a private dance," she explained in a soft voice. "Are any of the rooms available?"

"Not at the moment. They're all full up for now." One of the guards answered gruffly.

"Their time should be up within the next few minutes. Just wait your turn." The other guard ordered in an irritated manner.

The dancer released her hold on the gunslingers hand, but he did not let go right away, when she turned slightly just far enough to glance at him and his hand, he finally released. She was hesitant as she turned to walk past him in the oppisite direction, taking a seat on a bench positioned on the wall lined with candles a few feet away. He watched her silently for a moment before going to join her.

They sat in silence now, and the girl crossed one of her legs over the other and rested her hands on one of her knees as she leaned forward. Erron kept his eyes on her, and drank in as much detail of her as he could in the dim candle light. He looked to the one side of her face that he could see, but her eyes glided to the side to see him staring at her and she turned her head the rest of the way away from him. As her hair shifted as well, his eyes fell further down, but came to a stop on her left shoulder blade. Although the lighting wasn't great, they were seated close enough to the candles for him to see it; a mark, to be more exact, a brand was placed on her left upper back. His eyes narrowed as he focused on it. It was about the size of a palm, and beared the symbol of the tavern's owner, who was a well known 'business' man in Z'Unkahrah. Basically what would be the black market of Outworld. He smuggled in a lot of forbidden contraband that Kotal Kahn had banned after Shao Kahn's downfall.

Erron knew that anyone who beared that mark was the equivalent of livestock, and none of them were in that position of their own free will. He started to wonder just how this Earthrealm girl wound up in the position she was in.

Suddenly, she broke the silence. "So, what is the Kahn's personal aid doing in a place like this, anyway?" Her voice was soft, and only loud enough for him to make out.

He blinked and let his eyes wonder off before realizing she had turned around to look at him now. "I needed a little entertainment." He answered honestly. "With my line of work, you don't really get the chance to enjoy yourself that often." He thought about it for a moment, and then corrected hisself. "But, some parts of the job I do enjoy." He smirked a little beneath his mask, thinking of how he had taken care of the Earthrealm brats just days before.

She stayed silent for a moment, as if contemplating his words. "Oh, I see... So you like killing people, then?"

She was straightforward, although it threw him off a little, he liked it.

"Yeah. Guess I do." He turned to her again, locking eyes.

Surprisingly, she smiled a little at his comment. "Can't say I blame you. There are quite a few people I wouldn't mind killing, myself."

Again, she had threw him off with her words. But before either one could make another comment, one of the guards had started forward and yanked one of the tapestries back from one of the doorways. "Alright, time's up!" He boomed.

Erron and the girl turned to look in the direction, and Erron couldn't help but notice the man and woman inside. They were both seated on a cushioned seat, just big enough for the two of them to sit the way they were. The womans top had been pulled down to reveal her breasts, and the man's top had been torn open to reveal his chest. When neither made a move the guard growled before reaching in and grabbing the woman by her hair, ripping her off the man. When she did, the man's exposed and hardened member was visible, and when the guard saw this he threw the woman to the ground. She grunted at the impact and whimpered.

"Better have earned enough to cover that." The guard spoke down to the crumbling woman before turning to face the man who was now hurrying to fasten his trousers and fix his shirt. He turned back to the woman below him and then extended his hand. The woman was quick to move as she crawled back towards the room, and gathered her earnings from an urn next to the cushioned seat. She turned back and sat up on her knees as she placed all the coins in the guards hands. He counted them silently. The man who had finished fixing his clothes began to leave, but as he exited the room, the guard extended an arm and slammed in back into his chest.

"Not so fast," he boomed. "Im afraid you did not pay enough for the services you received."

"But I didn't even finish!" The man argued.

"Not my problem." The guard said nonchalantly as he unsheathed his sword, extending it in the mans direction. "Empty your pockets."

The man fidgeted as he stuck his hands in his pockets to squander what little money he had left, giving it to the guard who counted it but then clicked his tongue to backhand him.

"Don't come back if you can't manage to pay what you owe." The guard then motioned for the woman to leave and get back to work. She was quick to move and leave. Then the guard resheathed his sword and ordered the dancer seated to get to work on the next customer. "You have 15 minutes."

Quickly the dancer stood and then turned to extend a hand to Erron, who took it eagerly. With that she led him towards the vacant room, which the guard held the tapestry back for them to enter, releasing it as the two entered the room.